


Sinful

by Slytherin_Princess10



Category: Walking Dead, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-02-11 17:01:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2075985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherin_Princess10/pseuds/Slytherin_Princess10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth Greene is a young single mother who works as an adult film star to support her son. Daryl Dixon, hurting for money as usual, picks up a weekend job as a security guard at the Sinful Pictures studio. An awkward first encounter, shared smoke breaks, and drunken moonshine confessions are just stops along the way as these two souls manage to find love in each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**So yeah, I am starting yet ANOTHER fic but I just had to when this idea came to me. Characters will be OOC but that's okay because its AU.**

**I hope you guys enjoy it, let me know what you think and if I should continue!**

The first day of a new job was always a nerve wracking experience, especially for someone like Daryl. He wasn't what most people would describe as a people person, but luckily that personality trait wasn't necessary for this line of work. He was going to be a security guard for some porn studio on weekends to try and make some extra money. His job as a mechanic was Monday through Friday and to be frank, the compensation was shit. Even working forty hours a week, he was barely scraping by. It's not as if he lived a lavish lifestyle either. Most dinners consisted of meat he hunted or ramen noodles from the convenience store down the street from his residence. The studio apartment he lived in was a dump, with the thirty year old appliances always breaking, paint peeling off the walls, and carpet so nasty that Daryl refused to even walk around barefoot inside.

Pulling his motorcycle up to a plain looking building, he doubled checked the address written on his hand. Discovering he was indeed in the right place, he parked and made his way inside the unmarked door. The front room was tiny, with a couple chairs and a desk covered with little monitors. Sitting at the desk was a tan guy around Daryl's age in jeans and a black t-shirt that read 'security' on it in white block letters. The man looked up and saw Daryl walk inside. "You Merle's brother?" Merle had been the one to hook him up with the job, one of his buddies was looking for another guy and he volunteered Daryl.

"Yeah, uh, Daryl. I'm lookin' for Max?"

The man stood up, and reached his hand out for Daryl to shake. "That's me. Nice to meet you, Daryl." Daryl nodded and shook his hand. "Listen, I know it's your first day and all but they needed my help with something upstairs but someone's gotta be here at all times. Mind manning the station for me for a little while?"

Daryl raised his eyebrows. So much for orientation. "Yeah, sure."

Max nodded. "Awesome. Okay, so basically all you need to know is no one gets in without a badge." He gestured to his own badge hanging on his chest. "You wouldn't believe some of the perverts that try to get in here, man." Daryl could imagine. "Sometimes some of the girls try to sneak their kids in when they can't find a sitter but same goes for them. No one under eighteen allowed."

"Sounds pretty easy."

"Yeah it is, so don't fuck it up." Max laughed while Daryl remained stone faced. "Um okay, yeah, I'll be back for you soon and then we can go over everything."

Left alone in the small room, Daryl took a seat in the uncomfortable chair behind the desk. All of the little monitors were apparently hooked up to the security cameras and he was pretty shocked, momentarily forgetting where he actually was, when his eyes roamed over one of the pictures and could see one of the films being shot in what looked to be a fake classroom. The 'teacher' had the schoolgirl across his lap with her skirt hiked up, currently smacking his hand against her bare ass. He averted his gaze quickly, realizing this would take some getting used to. Too bad they did random drug tests, because this would have been the perfect job or Merle.

Trying to avoid the video feeds, Daryl glanced around the room again. Even though he had more time to study it now, he noticed that he didn't miss anything with his first sweep of the room, still empty and plain, which he was fine with.

Thirty minutes later, Max no where to be found, Daryl was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk. Most of his time had literally been spent twiddling his thumbs. If this was what every shift was going to be like then he decided he should stop by the library or something to pick up a book to read. Books weren't normally his thing, but definitely better than just sitting here staring at the ceiling.

The front door opening made Daryl scramble to get his feet down. Looking towards the entrance, he saw what had to be the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She had long blonde hair that was slightly curled, her eyes were big and blue, her skin was like porcelain and she was a tiny little thing. She looked like she could be sixteen, which made Daryl feel like a dirty old man for mentally checking her out. _No one under eighteen allowed._ He could hear Max's voice in his head. Just to be sure, Daryl glanced down at her torso. Yep, no badge in sight.

"Woah, hey!" The girl had been trying to make her way to the back without even glancing Daryl's way.

Beth was running so very late. She had already had a long morning. She woke up to find her four year old son, Jackson, was sick with a fever and she spent most of the first hour of being awake cleaning up vomit. Instead of taking him to his regular sitter, Carol, Beth had to find someone to come watch him last minute so he didn't get Carol's daughter, Sophia, sick. By the time she had found someone to come watch him, she was late.

Getting out of her crappy sedan, she quickly grabbed up her purse and ran to the entrance. Trying to hurry to the back, Beth didn't even notice the new security guard working in the front. He yelled at her to stop and she turned towards him, irritated that she was now going to be even more late. "What?" Her voice came out harsh. Getting a good look at him now standing up, she saw that the man was gorgeous. He had blue eyes, messy brown hair, defined cheekbones, and mother of god...those shoulders.

"You can't go back there." His rough voice and sexy accent mixed with his good looks still did nothing to curb Beth's annoyance.

"What the hell do you mean?" A curl fell into her line of vision and she blew out a breath to get it out of her face.

"You don't have a badge, and you don't really look like you're old enough to be here."

Beth groaned, knowing very well that she had forgotten her badge at home. It was currently sitting on her kitchen counter. She mentally shook her head, realizing that wasn't the main problem here. "Wait, what?" The man just raised his eyebrows at her, clearly not planning on repeating himself. "I'm twenty one! I _work_ here!"

His eyes widened, feeling like a total ass. It really wasn't the best first encounter. "Shit, sorry. But the badge..."

"Yeah, I left it at home. Sorry, won't happen again." As much as she tried to avoid it, there was still a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm now even later!"

Without another look at him, she hurried off to go change and get her makeup done, knowing she would definitely be chewed out. What a fantastic start to her day.

The fiesty blonde woman left Daryl feeling like he was an idiot. What a fantastic 'start' to his day. He sighed deeply and sat back down in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Rough start?" Daryl looked over to Max, who was now back apparently.

"Nah, everythin' is good."

Max laughed at him. "Sure, man." He nodded with his head towards the back. "Wanna grab some lunch with me?"

Daryl nodded in response, standing up once again. Max yelled to someone in one of the offices near by for someone named Tyreese to cover the front while they were away. He followed Max to what appeared to be a break room with a table, chairs, and a small fridge. Max grabbed his lunch out of the box and sat down at the table. Daryl sat down across from him empty handed, the lack of money meaning he rarely ever ate lunch. Max must have noticed this as he offered up some of his own, but Daryl declined.

They talked through lunch, random shit mostly, and Max went over some more of what the job entailed. Daryl could tell it was fairly straight forward, and like he suspected, it involved a lot of sitting around.

When Max was finished eating, he offered to take Daryl on a tour of the building. Max explained that there wasn't much to see, a few offices, some rooms stocked with different outfits, a couple make up stations, and then there were the sets. Max told him how the sets were always changing, depending on what kind of film they were shooting, and that it was crazy how some of the crew could transform a room.

They were on their way back to the front when Max was called into a room. Daryl followed behind him and Max gave him the signal to be quiet as they were currently filming something inside.

Entering the room which was more like a big garage, Daryl was hit with the image of the young girl from earlier, except now she looked incredibly different. Her tight denim jeans and plain t-shirt had been replaced with nothing more than a pair of fishnet thigh high stockings, and studded high heels. Her face was transformed as well, red staining her lips and thick black lines framed her eyes. Probably the most shocking thing about the image was that she was currently bent over the hood of a car, some pretty boy in a fake mechanic coveralls thrusting into her from behind as she obviously faked the moans coming out of her mouth. If he wasn't so embarrassed by what he was seeing, he definitely would have been turned on. It was like his own secret fantasy coming true, except in his mind, he would be in his own coveralls and those moans coming out of her would be real. Oh, and instead of some shitty sports car, it would be an American classic that she would be on top of.

Max's whispers interrupted his shameful thoughts. "Like what ya see?"

"Huh? No...I mean, well...she's alright."

Max once again chuckled at Daryl's expense. "That's Beth. She's a real fan favorite." Daryl just nodded, not really sure of what to say. "In security language, that means some of those weirdos I told you about earlier stop by to try and say hi to her." Daryl felt a rush of anger through his veins, thinking about some pervert basically stalking her. His thoughts must have shown on his face because Max spoke up once again. "Exactly. So we usually try to make sure they get to their cars okay. Always escort them out when it's after dark." Daryl nodded, taking in the information.

"Now come on, let's get back up to the front before Tyreese get's all pissy with me."

Daryl was thankful to be getting out of that room, and he let out a breath of air that he didn't even know that he was holding. Max smiled at him and patted a hand down on Daryl's back, making him flinch. "Welcome to Sinful Pictures. You're gonna love it here!" He squeezed his shoulder before releasing him.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, despite his first encounter with the woman named Beth, and then seeing her actually shooting a porno. That mental picture would probably be forever ingrained in his mind. Max was an alright guy, pretty chatty but didn't seem to mind that Daryl wasn't much of a conversationalist. Tyreese, the other guard, was also not so bad. He might have actually liked him better than Max because he didn't seem to mind the silence.

Daryl made it home just in time for a healthy dinner consisting of Cup of Noodles and a glass of tap water. As he was eating the sodium packed soup, he couldn't help but think that it was one hell of a first day.

**Well, there's chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed. Please let me know if you did so I know if I should continue or not. :)**

 


	2. Chapter 2

**I am so so so happy to see how many of you enjoyed the first chapter and that is what led me to getting this one out to you so quickly. I appreciate all the kind reviews you left for me, it really makes my entire day.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

To most people, having sex on camera with a stranger in front of about ten different people would be a scenario taken out of one of their worst nightmares. To Beth, it was just another day at work. In her mind, a nightmare consisted of letting her son go hungry and not having a bed to sleep in at night. She had come a long way from being at that point and she planned on never going back to that ever again. It wasn't the most ideal job, by any means, but it was one of the only jobs that allowed her to be home with her son five days a week and still make a decent living.

In the two years she had been in the adult entertainment industry, she rarely ever questioned her choices, knowing she made them for the right reasons, but as she was leaning over the hood of that shiny car with some guy penetrating her, she caught a glimpse of the new security guy. It wasn't often that Beth felt attracted to anyone, probably due to having a child to think about and the obvious lack of romance in her life, but even she could admit that the newbie was ridiculously good looking. Their eyes connected for a second, he looked away before she did. He definitely wasn't like the others around here, not all cocky and not even close to be comfortable around the productions. As she stole another glance at him, she could tell by his body language that he was obviously embarrassed, whether it was for her or him, she couldn't tell. It was probably the first time she actually felt a little ashamed for what she was doing, but that shame quickly turned to confusion as she wondered what the hell was so special about Mr. Cutie that made her second guess her own life. She could acknowledge that he was nice to look at but she didn't know him, there was no magical pull towards each other, but for some reason he occupied her thoughts. She did her best to ignore him for the rest of the time he was in the studio, focusing on the 'task' at hand.

By the time she was leaving, he was no where to be found. For a second, she almost questioned Max about him as he walked her out to her car, but reminded herself that her curiosity didn't really matter. They were nothing to each other, and even if Beth did anything even close to dating, after the little show today, she knew he would not be interested.

After arriving at home, Beth paid Tara, the sitter, and made sure she would be able to come back tomorrow. She made her way back to Jackson's bedroom and saw that he was asleep in bed so she quietly shut the door and went into the kitchen to make some food. Sitting down at the small dining table, she ate the leftover casserole and flipped through a magazine marketed to woman Beth's age that she could never relate to. Her meal was interrupted by the tiny voice behind her. "Mommy?"

Beth put her spoon down and spun in her chair to face her sweet little boy holding his worn out bunny rabbit stuffed animal in the little kitchen. "Hi baby! How ya feelin'?" She could tell he wasn't feeling so hot by the look of his droopy eyelids and the shade of green that graced his skin.

He sounded just absolutely pitiful when he spoke again. "I don't feel so good." He made his point when he leaned forward to allow the contents of his stomach to reappear.

Beth internally groaned, feeling so bad for her little angel. She stood up, sidestepping the mess, and picked him up in her arms. The action reminded her that he would soon be too big to do this. "Come on, let's go get in the bath. Maybe that will help."

She walked towards the bathroom, placing the back of her hand on his forehead. Even without a thermometer, Beth could tell he was obviously running a fever by the heat radiating off of him and the sweat that dampened his body. She set him on the counter while she ran the bath, making sure the water was lukewarm, and then stripped his clothes and set him inside.

Beth sat on the toilet next to the tub watching him play with his bath toys. She noted his lethargy as he played with much less enthusiasm than normal and wished that there was something she could do to help him feel better. She knew it wasn't serious though, and she learned that the hard way. Early on, Beth would rush him to the ER at the first sign of a fever or a sniffle and no one would fault the poor teenage mother for that, but now she knew when it was serious and when it was just a bug.

When Jackson had finished up with his bath, Beth dressed him in a fresh pair of Transformers pajamas and took him into her room. She got him all set up in her bed and put Finding Nemo on the little television set for him to watch while she cleaned up the mess on the kitchen floor.

Beth was finally able to fall asleep with Jackson draped across her stomach but was woken up every couple hours to him getting sick again. She went through three sets of sheets that night before she finally just covered the bed in towels.

Tara arrived right on time the next morning, and Beth was relieved she wouldn't be late again, especially after the exhausting night she had. She got to set and waved to Tyreese as she made her way into the back to get ready for the film she would be shooting today.

Daryl arrived for work and was assigned patrol, which basically meant he walked around the outside of the property all day. It would probably be the best part of this job because it would allow him to be outside.

By the time lunch rolled around, he had lost count of how many laps around he had done. He sat down on a concrete ledge near the back entrance and lit up a smoke. About halfway through the cigarette, the blonde girl from yesterday, Beth, came out through the back in a short little robe. The girl wasn't very observant as she stood about five feet from Daryl and didn't notice as she lit up her own cigarette, her phone in her hand. He cleared his throat and she turned around to look at him. For the second time, Daryl thought to himself how pretty she was, but especially without all that make up painted on her face. This time, however, she was done up in pink. Pink gloss slathered on her lips, pink eye shadow with sparkles caked on her lids, and she had pigtails in her hair tied with pink satin ribbon.

"Shit, I didn't see you there."

Daryl snuffed out his cigarette on the ledge beside him and put his hands up. "I's just leavin'."

Beth took a step forward, shaking her hands at him. "No, no, it's okay really. Just startled me is all." He decided to stay where he was, considering there was still twenty five minutes left in his break. She inhaled a large puff and blew it out, drawing his attention back to her mouth. "I'm sorry...about yesterday by the way. I was pretty rude to you."

Daryl shrugged. "No problem. I get it. Everyone has bad days."

Beth shook her head. "It wasn't okay, you were just trying to do your job." There was silence for a few seconds. "Maybe we could just start over."

"Okay."

"Generally that's when you would introduce yourself." Beth smiled at his lack of social skills. It was almost cute. "I'm Beth."

"Daryl."

"Nice to meet you, Daryl."

"Yeah, you too." Beth laughed at the awkward tone of the conversation. She decided he might be more comfortable if she just went back to enjoying her smoke. She was almost finished with it when he surprised her by speaking up. "That's a nice getup you're wearin'."

She could almost feel the heat radiating off his flushed chicks as he spoke. "Oh yes, it's the haute couture of naughty babysitters. Real crowd pleaser." It must have been just a little too inappropriate because he snorted lightly but didn't respond. Beth wondered herself how one would respond to that in a civilized manner.

About to head back inside, Beth was stopped by her phone ringing and by the specific ringtone she could tell it was Jackson so she picked up. "Hey baby!" Daryl couldn't help but overhear as she was still only a few feet away. "I'm gonna be home at around eight." Daryl strained his ears to see if he could pick up the voice on the other end of the conversation. "Okay, I love you. Bye baby." By the things she had said, Daryl could only assume that Beth had a boyfriend waiting for her at home. It didn't surprise him at all, she was a sweet girl and an absolute stunner, but for some reason it left him with a sour taste in his mouth. Even if he was interested, and she was available, he didn't stand a chance anyways. Beth said goodbye to Daryl, leaving him sitting on the ledge as she went back to work.

A few hours before she was set to head home, Beth ended up getting sick. It was just her luck that she would catch whatever ailment that had set up camp in Jackson's body, but it didn't surprise her considering she spent most of the night covered in his bodily fluids. Her boss wasn't happy with her, as the filming had to be put on hold which meant money lost, but there wasn't much she could do. Since it was already dark outside, Max called Daryl over to make sure Beth got to her car safe and sound.

He walked a couple feet away from her, but still close enough to admire her features, even if she was clammy and had huge dark circles under her eyes. Even in this condition, she was beautiful to him. If Merle could read his mind right now, Daryl would surely be chewed out for thinking like such a pussy.

As he watched Beth get into her car, he called out to her. "Hey." She looked up at him, seeing him standing a couple yards away. "You gonna make it home okay?" She just smiled softly and nodded. Daryl stood there and watched her drive away, the red lights on the back of her car getting smaller and smaller before heading back to his patrol. Even after his first day he knew this job wouldn't be so bad, but now he actually felt himself looking forward to next weekend if it meant getting a chance to see Beth again, even just to admire from a distance.

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	3. Chapter 3

**I was going to try and get this up sooner but I just wasn't feeling it and I wanted it to turn out right. I hope it did because this is the longest chapter I have written, for any of my fanfictions. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**I sincerely thank all of you for the wonderful reviews, favorites, and follows. It really makes me want to get these chapters out faster for you guys!**

It seemed that Saturday couldn't come soon enough for Daryl. He had been working at the garage all week and usually he didn't have a problem with it, it was just mindless work that kept his hands busy. This week, however, it seemed that every time he stepped inside the oil stained building his brain would flash with the images of Beth over the hood of that car. This definitely made it harder for him to work efficiently.

After talking to the woman briefly on their smoke break, Daryl felt like a pervert whenever those pictures ran through his mind. Now he realized that she was a genuinely nice person, one who was in a relationship. Right there was one thing Daryl couldn't comprehend. He had no clue how someone lucky enough to call her their girlfriend would be okay with the idea of her fuckin' other people, even if it's just for 'show'. He tried not to think about that anyways, wasn't like it was any of his business. What Daryl did know was that while he was parking his bike in the warehouse parking lot, noticing her car already present, he was looking forward to seeing the girl he couldn't seem to keep off his mind.

Beth and Jackson had both somewhat recovered from their illness, so here she was at work, trying to make up for the hours she had missed last weekend. She was thoroughly exhausted, her body taking longer to get back to normal after being sick due to the fact that instead of resting, she spent most of her time taking care of her son. Today, they were finishing the filming for the video she was supposed to finish last weekend. Both the director and the 'actor' she was working with had been making snide comments all day about having to rearrange their schedules to get it done, and Beth was about ready to punch someone in the face.

Finally they had finished filming but Beth still had to wait around while they review their footage to make sure they got all the right shots. She wrapped her robe around herself and snuck outside with a cigarette, lighter, and phone in her hands. Pushing open the back door, she was met with the sight of Daryl sitting in the same place as before. He looked up at her and she smiled at him. "Fancy meetin' you here!" Her voice came out much bubblier than it should have, given her current mood.

Daryl's lips curled up into a barely there smirk at her sarcastic comment. "Yeah, what a surprise." It most definitely was not a surprise. He had come to this spot in hopes that he might run into her again. Beth laughed and put the cigarette in her mouth, lighting it up and inhaling as much as her lungs would allow. She was startled when he spoke up again, not expecting him to be much of a conversation starter. "You know, I hear those things will kill you."

Beth eyed his own cigarette with a raised brow before meeting his eye again. Out in the sunlight, really looking at them, she could see they were a beautiful shade of dark blue, almost like an ocean she could get lost in. "Yeah but it doesn't count for me because I only do it when I'm feeling particularly stressed out." She said with a fake smug look on her face.

"So just at work then?" Daryl ventured a guess.

Beth bobbed her head in response as she inhaled again. "Yep, pretty much."

He wanted to ask her why she did it if she didn't enjoy it but he didn't think it'd be too appropriate, they weren't exactly that friendly yet. He could, however, come up with a few of his own guesses. They both smoked in silence, with Beth checking her phone every now and then. She took another drag before throwing the butt on the floor and stomping it with her pink high heels. "Better get back inside. Nice seeing you again, Daryl."

Chills went up his spine, hearing his name come from her beautiful mouth again. He exhaled the cloud of smoke from his lungs as she walked back inside. "You too." He said after the door had shut behind her.

Later on around seven, Max came to talk to Daryl. "Hey man, everyone seems to be going home pretty early today so if ya want, you can just head out now."

Daryl nodded at him. "Yeah, thanks."

He checked his pockets making sure he had his crappy flip phone, keys, and cigarettes before making his way to the front door. He had pushed it open when Max yelled for him again. "Hey Daryl!"

Daryl stopped, his hand holding the door halfway open and turned back towards him and saw that Beth was now standing with Max, currently back in her regular clothes. Her outfit consisted of some black wedges, flared dark wash denim pants, and a tight black long sleeved t shirt. It seemed that no matter what she was wearing, Daryl couldn't help but stare. "Yeah?"

"Since you're walkin' out anyways, mind escorting Ms. Beth here to her car?"

"Um yeah sure, no problem." Beth smiled and made her way out of the building, her arm brushing against Daryl's chest as he held the door open from the inside for her. The contact made her whole body erupt in goose bumps that left as quickly as they had come on.

They began the short walk to Beth's car with her speaking up, clearly a little more uncomfortable with the silence than Daryl. "You excited to be off early?"

Daryl shrugged. "I guess, don't got any big plans or nothing." He took his eyes off the floor to look over at her. "How 'bout you?"

Beth adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder before shoving her tiny fingers into the tight pockets of her jeans. "Me either. I'm pretty boring. I don't have to be home for another couple hours though." Daryl was confused at her words as it sounded like she had a curfew or somethin'. " Actually, do you wanna go get a drink with me? There's this little bar just a few blocks from here."

Momentarily shocked at her offer, Daryl was able to choke out some coherent words. "Uh, yeah, sure...that'd be...nice."

Beth giggled at his response. "Well jeez, don't sound so excited!"

"No, really...I think I'd like that."

Beth offered to drive him to the bar since it was only a couple blocks away. It felt nice to have him near, in the tight space of the small car. She felt comfortable with him. When they entered the dingy bar, Daryl felt a little more at ease. He wasn't exactly expecting place that served fancy martinis and other cocktails, but he didn't really expect Beth to bring him to a place like this. The room was small, the countertop taking up almost half of the space, and there were only a couple people inside, mostly old men looking to drown their sorrows, trying not to think about their shitty lives. Beth walked over to the bartop and hopped up on a stool, while Daryl followed her lead.

A women with long brunette hair and a smile behind the bar walked over to them. "Hey Beth! So good to see you!" The woman reached out to grab Beth's hand and gave it a squeeze.

Beth's face lit up at seeing the familiar woman and the image made Daryl's stomach flutter. He rubbed at it, trying to make the feeling stop. "Lori! Good to see you too! How have you been? How are Carl and Judith? And Rick?" Daryl felt lost, not having any clue who these people were so he tried to tune out but it was so very hard not to eavesdrop on two women catching up due to the enthusiasm and noise level.

"Oh everyone's great, just so busy. You know how it is. They miss you though!"

"I miss them too."

"How's Jackson?" Daryl's ears perked up at this. Jackson was probably the boyfriend.

"Oh he's doing well, just getting over being sick." Daryl thought this might be why Beth was in no hurry to get home, knowing how guys could be when they were ill. She probably didn't want to take care of some man-child.

"Aw, well I hope he feels better soon!" For the first time since she walked over, the woman, Lori, looked over at Daryl. "And who's this?"

Beth gasped lightly. "Oh God, I'm so rude! Lori, this is Daryl. Daryl, this is Lori."

Lori smiled at Daryl. "Nice to meet you."

Daryl tipped his head at her. "Yeah, you too."

"Well, what can I get you guys to drink?"

Daryl was about to order a beer when Beth decided to speak up for the both of them. "Surprise us!"

Lori laughed. "Alright, don't expect to be too shocked."

She busied herself with gathering their drinks and came back with glasses filled with clear liquid. "Vodka?" Beth questioned. "How creative."

Lori reached over to smack Beth's arm lightly. "Oh shut up, it's moonshine."

Daryl raised his eyebrows at this while Beth laughed. "Don't even call it that. It's that weak stuff they sell in all the liquor stores. Not _real_ shine."

"Yeah, and what do you know about that?" Daryl was interested in hearing the answer to this as well, but Beth was much too coy.

"I have my ways."

Lori laughed at her response and the innocent smirk on Beth's face. "I just go by whatever the label says it is. Enjoy your drinks guys, let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks Lori!" The bartender finally walked away leaving Daryl and Beth basically alone as no one was paying them any attention.

"So you a regular here or somethin'?" He picked up the glass and brought it to his lips, taking a swig of the drink. It went down smooth, tasting slightly of sugar, ending with a slight burn in his abdomen. Definitely not the real stuff.

Beth snorted which made her blush but Daryl just found it adorable. Wait, no. He wasn't even supposed to know what the word adorable meant. It was endearing. Yes, much better. "Hardly. I used to watch her kids. Her husband's the sheriff. She just picks up shifts here every now and again to help with money." He just nodded in response, figuring that she would have been a babysitter at some point. For some reason, he had the idea that she would be good with kids.

Beth took a sip of the drink, grimacing as it made it's way through her digestive tract. She set the glass down and brought her hands to her face, rubbing them against her eyes. "Why do you do it?" She blinked, her eyebrows knitting together, not quite sure at what he was asking. It took her a moment before she realized he was asking why she did porn. He must have assumed her silence meant that she was offended rather than confused. "Shit, I'm sorry. I was thinkin' about it earlier and I didn't ask because it probably woulda come out rude. Just forget I asked, I'm sorry."

Beth put her hands up, shaking them along with her head. "No, no, I was just trying to think of what you were talking about. You didn't upset me. Don't worry about it. It's a pretty normal question, I guess. It's not like people dream of being an adult film star when they grow up."

Daryl shrugged. "Ain't the worst thing in the world, that's for sure. I'm just curious is all. Not even really any of my business."

"Sure, it is." Daryl looked at her confused. "You're my friend, Daryl. You are allowed to ask things about me." She was such an open person, someone who obviously wasn't into playing games. She was simple, and that's what Daryl liked. He didn't even realize she hadn't answered his question until she pulled out her phone and pulled something up on it. Showing him the screen, Daryl eyes met the picture of a young boy with Beth. He studied it, noting the kid's blonde hair and blue eyes that matched her own. "That's my son, Jackson."

Daryl's eyes widened. "Oh, I thought...never mind." He wasn't about to admit to her he was thinking she had some boyfriend waiting for her at home. Suddenly the phone conversation clicked along with what Lori had been talking about.

"He's four and quite the handful sometimes." Daryl quickly did the math in his head, and it was like Beth could tell what he was thinking. "Yeah, I had him when I was sixteen."

Daryl wasn't about to judge her, once again knowing there were worse things to be rather than a teenage mother. "He's a cute kid."

Beth smiled and glanced at the picture before putting her phone back in her bag. "Yeah, he's my world." Daryl took another sip of his drink, not quite sure what to say. "He's why I do it." He knew she must have made pretty good money doing what she did and it's not like it was a job where she had to work long hours every day, so he could understand how that would help her out.

"You ain't got any help with him?" It was an assumption, but she hadn't given him any reason to believe otherwise.

Beth's face dimmed, shaking her head. "His daddy didn't want him from the moment I told him I was pregnant. It's hard to blame him, we were just kids." Daryl's fists curled. 'Kid' or not, it takes two to tango. "My parents were real upset. You know, such a disappointment that their baby didn't save herself for marriage. The plan originally was to give him up for adoption...but when they laid him on my chest for the first time, I just knew I couldn't live without him." Daryl nodded, keeping his eyes focused on her, intent on hearing every word she had to say. "So when I decided to keep him, they wanted no part in it. I was left with no where to go. My sister, Maggie, she's real supportive but she was in college, livin' with her boyfriend...not exactly enough room for her younger sister and a baby. She sent me money though, whenever she could. I didn't know what I was going to do." Daryl felt sad for her, that she had to endure that. "I was sleeping in my car..." A tear escaped out of one of her eyes and she quickly used her sleeve to wipe it away. "How sick is that? Making my newborn son live out of a car?"

Daryl felt the sudden urge to hug her, and if he was a more touchy person, he would have. "Seems like you were doin' the best you could."

The corner of her lips turned up into a small smile. "I guess..." She sighed before continuing on with her little story. "I was in the grocery store one day. I must've looked like such a mess, screaming infant in my arms and everything. I was tryin' to buy some food but didn't have enough money to pay for it and the cashier was giving me this horrible look, judging me. This older couple in line behind me offered to pay for my food, and I was so desperate that I let them. Once I was outside putting the few bags in my car, they noticed all my stuff in it...they started asking questions and one thing led to another...they invited me to come live with them." She smiled at the memory and Daryl could almost feel the grateful feelings radiating off of her. "Dale and Irma...they took care of us. Gave us food...shelter...helped me raise my son right." Daryl couldn't help but smile at the tone of her voice, even now, years later, she sounded relieved, like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, while talking about this. "I got a job workin' at a diner, but the money was shit. I would never be able to move out on my own. So when I turned eighteen, I saw this ad online, calling for young pretty girls who wanted to be in the entertainment industry. I figured, hey why not look into this. I had always wanted to be a singer. I was shocked when I found out it was just for porn...but the money was right, so I did it. A year later, I was able to support Jackson on my own. Dale and Irma are on an RV trip around the country, but they're still a big part of our lives. Even though they're not blood, they're his grandparents." Daryl was stunned into silence. This amazing woman had endured so much, and had come out relatively normal, unlike him and his childhood. "So that's why I do it. I'm never going back to not having a bed to sleep in, or not having enough money to get food for my son. It's not an option."

"You're a good mom, Beth." It was the honest truth.

"Thanks...sometimes it's just nice to hear that." Beth laughed, trying to lighten the mood as she rubbed her eyes again, trying to rid them of any stray tears. "It may not be the ideal situation, but I don't hide it from anyone and they still accept me. I'm able to give my son a life, and really, that's all that matters to me anymore."

After she was done sharing, Beth and Daryl fell into easy conversation. He was actually surprised when Beth looked at the time and told him it was just after ten. The time had flown right by with her. "I better get home, don't want to piss off the sitter." Daryl nodded, pulling out his wallet to pay for their drinks. Beth tried to stop him. "I can get it, I invited you!"

Daryl chuckled, shaking his head at her. "Ladies don't pay for their own drinks." He threw a couple extra bucks down, making sure to leave a tip for Lori.

"Well, in that case, thank you. Such a gentleman."

Daryl scoffed at her words. "Very funny."

"Do you at least want me to give you a ride back to the parking lot?"

He thought for a moment, and as much as he wanted to spend just a little extra time with Beth, he knew she had more important things to do. "Nah, go on, get home to that kid o' yours."

She smiled at him, and he knew he'd never get sick of that sight. "Thanks Daryl. I had a lot of fun tonight."

"Yeah, me too." It was the first time in a long time that Daryl actually had a good time. He flinched slightly when Beth stepped forward and put her arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. It was short, but so sweet. He got a nice whiff of her hair, noting that it smelled like candy, and he could feel every curve of her figure pressed up against his front. He cursed his body as he felt his cock twitch in his jeans from the contact. He gave her a pat on the back, a fucking pat on the back like she was one of the guys and then she pulled away. "See ya tomorrow, Daryl!"

"Goodnight, Beth." He again waited to watch her safely get to her car and drive away before he started his short walk back to his motorcycle, feeling the best he had in a long long time.

**Just picture me sitting on the street with a styrofoam cup cardboard sign that reads "Reviews please?"**

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, new chapter! Don't hate me if some of it doesn't make sense, I wrote about half of this chapter while working the night shift last night on no sleep.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

It had been a few weeks since Beth had asked Daryl out for drinks. Over the past few weekends, it was safe to say that they had become pretty good friends. Both of them now looked forward to going to work, simply because it would mean they'd get to see each other. Daryl had finally admitted to himself that maybe he might have a little crush on the woman, but of course he still believed he didn't have a chance so he just left it alone. She was just too good for him...but not in that stuck up bitch kind of way. She was just a truly good person and he felt that he didn't deserve anything like that, knowing somehow he would taint her pure heart and hopeful spirit. Even without some romantic spin, the pair definitely enjoyed spending what little time they had together. They hadn't gotten together outside of work yet, but that wasn't for lack of trying on Beth's part. Daryl usually declined her offers, as much as he hated it, because he worked every day of the week, leaving a small amount of time to get anything done.

Today he had been scheduled to man the front office and it was actually the first time he had gotten that opportunity since he had started a month ago, usually Max gave him the perimeter duty, knowing of Daryl's preference to be outside. Beth was shooting again today, which made it hard for Daryl to avoid the monitors on the desk. He managed to do it for a few hours, thinking of how she was his friend now, and it wouldn't be appropriate. However, just around the five hour mark, feeling fidgety from sitting still for so long, his eyes decided for him that he would take a peak.

They scanned over the glass screens, showing a multitude of black and white images, ranging from storage rooms to the offices to the current productions. Quickly, he located Beth. The image really made him wish he hadn't looked at all. There she was, in nothing but a white bra that had been pulled down to expose her breasts. This particular picture would have once again turned him on, even the black and white grainy version from the security camera, if it weren't for the fact that Beth wasn't alone. He didn't exactly expect her to be, he knew what her job was and what it entailed, but this time it was quite a bit different. Not only was she being entered repeatedly from behind by some guy, there was another man, up by her face, seemingly enjoying himself while Beth worked her mouth up and down his dick.

Daryl now felt ill, like his stomach was turning inside out and he was sure what little dinner he had last night would be coming back up his esophagus to say hello again. He turned his head away and stood up away from the desk, his racing thoughts forcing him to pace back and forth. His dirty work boots were probably going to put a hole in the ground, but that wasn't his main concern at this point. What he was thinking about was that Beth was just too god damned good to be doing this. It made him angry for a moment, then he quickly remembered no one was keeping her here, forcing her to perform these acts...no, Beth had made that decision all on her own. However, it was a difficult pill to swallow when Daryl thought she deserved to be treated like a queen, or a princess, or some kinda shit like that. Just be able to sit back, enjoy spendin' time with her kid without worryin' about food and bills. She just deserved the world, it was too bad he wasn't able to give it to her.

Daryl was trying force himself to calm down, telling himself over and over again that it didn't matter, this was her job, he wasn't there to judge. He was supposed to be her friend which left no room for feelings like this...anger, jealousy, sadness. It was just very different now...it kind of made him rethink porn all together. Merle would without a doubt kick his ass if he could somehow read his mind right now. Those girls, making these films, could be someone's mother, or sister, or wife, or daughter. This revelation wasn't doing anything to put him in a better mood, only making him feel like a disgusting old man for every having viewed them. Of course there did have to be some girls out there who simply did want to do this for a living, which wasn't something one would hope their child would usually aspire to, but again, there are worse things. He took one large shaky breath, running a rough hand through his shaggy mess he called hair trying to clear his head but still he couldn't help but think that Beth was just...above this.

Eventually he put an end to his pacing and he sat back down at his post, eyes deliberately avoiding the video feeds this time, and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. His fists curled, his uneven nails digging into his palms. Right now, he welcomed the minimal pain, as it would help him to focus. He chewed on his lip, trying to think about anything but the filming currently being done.

The only thing he could come up with was apparently his very active social life, so he began to contemplate his plans for the evening. Merle had called him fairly early this morning, already three sheets to the wind, although it was not a surprise. The older brother had been trying to convince him to go out to some biker bar to get wasted, no reason in particular, like a Dixon ever needed one, and had not hesitated to call Daryl a pussy for trying to decline the charitable invitation. Daryl knew his brother would just end up getting into a fight, hooking up with some random girl, or going to jail...or it could very well be all of the above, it definitely wouldn't be the first time. He finally gave in and told his brother he'd meet him there after work, to which Merle hollered something about drinks being on Daryl then promptly hung up on him.

His mind drifted off, getting lost in the thoughts of what could possibly go wrong with Merle tonight, as there were endless possibilities. He would crudely brought back to Earth when the front door was pulled open, allowing the sun to temporarily blind him for a second. Blinking the spots away, he noticed there was a young guy of about average height with dark brown short hair walking towards the back. He looked incredibly nervous and was moving way too fast, also was avoiding eye contact, which was weird because everyone who worked here seemed overly friendly, never going out of their way to flat out ignore anyone. This made Daryl immediately check for an employee badge. Glancing down at the guy's t shirt, he could see no badge in sight meaning no access. Daryl quickly stood up, striding over to the twitchy guy and blocked his path to the back part of the building. "Can I help you?"

The young man, who Daryl could now see perspiring, cleared his throat and stuttered out a response. "Uh, n-nope, just uh, on my way back." He gestured towards the hallway. "I've got a delivery." He held up a small box wrapped in plain brown paper.

"Well, deliveries normally get dropped off at the front desk. I'd be happy to sign for anything." The protocol he described was accurate, but Daryl also had a feeling he was calling the kid on his bluff. The kid nodded, and started in the direction of the desk that Daryl had been sitting at, but quickly turned around and tried to run right past Daryl. Daryl grabbed the kid by his hoodie and yanked him back. "Damn kid, do I look that stupid?"

"You don't really want me to answer that." Daryl rolled his eyes at the kid's smart ass remark, he should be thanking his lucky stars that Daryl had some self restraint right now. He started pulling him towards the door, ready to tell him to get lost when the kid started to beg. "Oh come on man, don't make me leave! I just gotta get back in there! Beth's in there and I need to see her!"

Daryl stopped for a second, and the kid looked positively overjoyed. He must have thought that Daryl had suddenly changed his mind and was gonna let him get back to see Beth. He then continued to drag the kid out, lightly shoving him in the direction of the parking lot. "Get the hell out of here. I don't want you comin' round here to bother Beth. You hear me?" He didn't yell, but he looked absolutely menacing and his tone was laced with venom.

The kid showed that he at least had some balls when he didn't immediately scram. Instead, he held out the package to Daryl. "Could you please at least give this to her?" Daryl just stared at it. "Please?" He couldn't help but think that this kid was pretty pathetic, so he gave him the benefit of the doubt, taking the package from his outstretched hand. They stared at one another for a moment, before the kid turned around and left. Daryl waited to make sure he was actually gone before going back inside. He set the package down on the desk and sat back down in his chair. He stared at it, wondering what the contents could be. The kid was weird, that was for sure, but he seemed pretty harmless.

When Beth came out from the back of the buidling, Daryl immediately stood up. "Hey Daryl!" She looked so different in all that makeup with her hair done up, but at least she was in her regular clothes instead of some lingerie and a silk robe. He smiled at her, something he did often when she was around. "I was just headin' out to get some lunch. You wanna join me?"

He had no reason to say no, not that he wanted to, so he nodded at her. "Yeah, that'll be good." He grabbed his phone out of the desk drawer and was making his way around the desk when he remembered the package. He grabbed it as he walked towards her, holding it out to her. "Some guy dropped this off for you, real weirdo."

Beth frowned as she took the package into her hands while they walked out to the parking lot, silently agreeing to take her car as Daryl wasn't too sure how she'd do on the back of a bike. It took her a while to get into the package, getting through the layers of thick paper and tape. When finally she had opened it, she looked inside in disgust. Daryl was curious until she pulled out a large pink phallic piece of silicone. He couldn't help but let the snort escape through his lips. "Don't laugh! This is gross!" She set the toy back inside the box before pulling something else out, Daryl could see it was a lock of hair, definitely from the kid who had dropped off the box. "People are just weird." Walking past a trash can, she dropped the package and it's contents inside.

"You sure you wanna toss that? That toy seems like it's pretty good quality." Beth rolled her eyes and shoved him, making Daryl stagger off to the side laughing.

Beth drove them to a fast food restaurant where Daryl decided to splurge a little and order a burger and fries while Beth ordered chicken tenders. He raised his eyebrows at her choice but Beth just shrugged. "Give me a break, I eat with a four year old most of the time."

While waiting for their food, they filled up their cups both deciding on coke. It was the first time in a while that Daryl had actually had a soda. When their order was up, Beth crammed an excess amount of ketchup on to the tray before carrying it to a small plastic booth.

Daryl slid in and so did Beth, right across from him, crossing her legs underneath her, showing him that she truly was just a kid sometimes. They dug in to their food, Daryl quiet while Beth had her normal smile on her face. "I don't get to eat fast food much but it is sooo good."

Daryl nodded, agreeing with her. "Yeah, me either."

"Do you cook a lot?" Beth innocently asked, but the question made Daryl want to laugh.

"Nah...usually eat crap food anyways, just not fast food...too expensive."

"I hear ya! Just imagine though, a four year old in the car driving by Mcdonalds being told that no, we won't be eating there for dinner." Daryl chuckled, picturing the scenario in his head. "You'd think I force fed him poison at home or somethin'."

Daryl lifted his shoulders in response. "Reckon most kids want what they just can't have."

"Very true." Beth nodded before taking another bite of her chicken. "So you never really talk about you, ya know? Seems like whenever we're together, I just go on and on about me so you're never able to get a word in." She wiggled her eyebrows, showing that she was slightly joking, knowing by now Daryl preferred to be the listener in the conversation. "You got any secrets kids I don't know about? Crazy ex wife? Ohh ex boyfriend?"

"Jesus girl! I ain't gay!" Daryl looked shocked, immediately on the defense when he felt like his manhood had been attacked.

Beth bust out laughing. Between her fit of giggles, she was able to respond. "I was just kidding! Jeez you act like it's a crime to be gay or somethin'."

"Ain't that."

"Oh, I know." Beth cooed. "You're just too much of a manly man for that, aren't you?"

He wasn't even going to respond to that question. "Ain't got no one, 'cept my brother, Merle." Beth thought that sounded sad, him thinking that he really had no one but a single sibling.

"Ah, and is he the reason you're always makin' up excuses for why you can't hang out?"

"Barely ever see him any more." That made Beth feel even sadder. "Supposed to go out with him tonight though." He noticed Beth looked a little deflated, hearing that.

"So then I guess you won't be able to accept my offer for dinner at my place tonight then, either?" There was no way he would be turning that down, not this time. "I thought it'd be cool if you got to meet Jackson." Beth didn't often bring men home to meet her son. In fact, she had never done it once. It was mostly because she didn't want Jackson getting attached to anyone, only for them to leave. She trusted Daryl though, knowing he wasn't that kind of person.

"I can come." He sounded so nonchalant, much calmer on the outside than he was on the inside.

Beth's eyebrows shot up. "Really? But you just said..."

"Forget about it, Merle's an ass anyways. This sounds much better." It was nice, the way he could be so sweet without even really trying.

"Great!" She sounded so excited and Daryl was happy to be able to make her so pleased. "I'll give you my address so after work you can go home and give me some time to make sure my house isn't a total disaster."

"Doubt it's that bad."

"Again Daryl, you don't live with a small child. They're more destructive than they look."

They decided on meeting at Beth's around eight so finished their meal and Beth drove them back to work, hoping to get done as soon as possible. She went back inside while Daryl stayed out for a smoke. In the moment, dinner at Beth's had sounded like a good idea, but now that he actually had an opportunity to clearly think about it, he was nervous as hell. He didn't know anything about kids, and if Beth's son ended up hating him, what would happen then? He finished his cigarette quickly, the stress making him inhale much quicker. All he knew at this point it was too late to back out without seeming like a total dick so the only option he was left with was panicking until dinnertime came, about what could possibly go wrong.

**So yeah, this chapter was a little bit of story development, not the most exciting, but the next chapter should be good! Dinner at Beth's and meeting Jackson! How do you guys think it will go?**

**Review and let me know what you think! As always, the awesome people who are reviewing chapter after chapter, I love you guys! It drives me to type away for hours to get these chapters out to you quickly!**

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh my god, this chapter is like 1k words longer than ANY chapter I've ever written! I hope it lives up to your expectations.**

Daryl was nervous as hell, to say the least, as he arrived at Beth's house. He pulled into the driveway, shutting off his bike, as he took in his surroundings. The house was a modest size, painted yellow with white shutters. The flower beds were overgrown and the lawn needed to be cut, but he could definitely see that this place suited Beth's true nature.

Shutting off his bike, he was startled by a little boy running out to greet him. Mentally recalling the picture he had seen on Beth's phone, Daryl recognized the child as Jackson. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and he was small, wearing jeans and a black hoodie, running around barefoot. "Mommy!" The kid helplessly looked back at the front door and then back at Daryl. "He's got a motorcycle! You didn't tell me that! You forgot to tell me that!" A small snort escaped Daryl's mouth.

Beth came out on the small porch rolling her eyes with a smile on her face. She seemed to glow, backlit by the setting sun "I'm sorry. I guess it just slipped my mind." She looked over at Daryl and gave a small wave. "Hi Daryl! You're early."

Daryl shrugged, putting a hand up to shield his eyes from the bright light. "Sorry, ain't really got nothin' better to do."

"Nonsense, it's not a problem." She began down the couple steps leading down to the driveway. She walked up to him and reached out, grabbing Jackson by his jacket and pulled him back towards her. "Don't touch." The kid scowled at being caught trying to poke at Daryl's bike, something that Daryl didn't even notice the kid was doing. Seemed he could get quite easily distracted around a certain woman. "Jackson, this is Daryl. Daryl, this is my son, Jackson."

Daryl didn't know quite what to do. How do you greet a child, shake their hand...pat them on the back? He opted for no contact, nodding at the kid instead. "Nice to meet you."

Jackson was apparently not one for pleasantries, looked up at Daryl briefly and back down at the bike. "Can I sit on it?"

Daryl didn't want the kid to knock it over while trying to climb on, so he put his hands underneath Jackson's armpits and lifted him on. The child's eyes lit up and he immediately gripped the handlebars, having to lean all the way forward to reach. "Wow!" He then proceeded to make fake engine sounds, as if he was really driving the thing.

"You probably just made his entire night." Beth leaned over, whispering in his ear. The soft breath hitting his neck gave him chills up his spine. He turned to look at her, finding himself inches from her face. Instinctively, he took a small step back, then he regretted it, the feeling of not being near her overwhelmed him in the weirdest way.

"Ain't nothin'. Just wanted to sit on the thing."

"Still...it's a big deal to him." Beth turned towards Jackson. "You wanna stay out here all night or you wanna come inside with me and Daryl?"

Jackson sighed deeply, debating his options, and even Daryl thought it was slightly funny at how dramatic the kid seemed to be. "I guess I should come inside." Daryl helped him off the bike, knowing the last thing this night needed was a trip to the emergency room for a kid with a cracked skull.

As they walked in the house, Jackson kept looking back at the bike longingly. Daryl chuckled at him under his breath. "It ain't goin' anywhere." This seemed to cheer the boy up a little bit, as he nodded and walked a little bit faster.

Beth held the door open for them, and as Daryl stepped inside he was instantly hit with the feeling of home. Whatever Beth had been preparing for dinner must be pretty good because as the scent wafted up his nostrils, his mouth began to water. The house had an open floor plan, which made it easy for him to have a view of the kitchen, living room, and dining room. All of the spaces were small but seemed inviting.

Jackson grabbed Daryl by the hand like it was the most natural thing in the world and began to pull him further into the house, carefully avoiding the pile of incredibly small shoes and a backpack in the walkway. "It's my job to give you the tour."

Daryl let the kid tug him into the kitchen which was pretty nice, something you wouldn't expect looking at the outside of the house. There were white cabinets with beige stone countertops and a bunch of fancy appliances. Child artwork graced the refrigerator, hung up by alphabet magnets. There was a vase of fresh flowers on the countertop and Daryl could spot misplaced cheerios on the floor. "This is the kitchen. It's where mom creates food. She's pretty good at that...except when she tries to put yuck things like carrots on my plate" He heard Beth laugh at Jackson's words.

"Eh...carrots ain't so bad. Good for your eyes. You don't want to go blind, do you?" He figured he could at least have some fun while being productive, trying to scare the child into eating his vegetables.

The child rapidly shook his head. "I _have_ to be able to see! I can't go blind!"

Daryl shrugged. "Then I guess you better eat ya carrots then, huh?"

Jackson nodded, eyes wide. "I will, I promise!"

Beth made her way into the kitchen. "Good, now continue on with the grand tour. I need to get dinner finished." She then began to shoo them with her hands.

Jackson grabbed Daryl's hand again, pulling him along once more. "We better git. She means business." They walked into the dining room, hardly stopping to pause. "This is where we eat. Sometimes we do art in here too. I painted the table once by accident...mommy wasn't too mad though." Glancing at the black table, Daryl could indeed spot the painted red mark. It was faded and chipped, but it was there. The next room up was the living room, which was so bright, Daryl felt the need to squint. The last bit of sun on the horizon peaked in through the curtains, making the yellow walls seem abnormally vivid. There were sheer curtains hung up, framed on either side by yellow and white ones. There was a couch and a couple of armchairs and a decent sized flat screen hung up above the fireplace. The decor was mismatched but fit well together, and Daryl thought that the room could have come straight out of a magazine. "This is the living room. We do a lot of living in here, especially when mom lets me watch my dvds." Jackson pointed towards a stack of board games on the built in shelving unit. "We play games too, we have lots of them. I'm good at winning at them." Daryl had a sneaking suspicion that Beth planned it to be that way.

Still, he nodded along enthusiastically, leading the kid to believe this was the most fascinating house tour he had ever been on. "Yeah? Maybe we could play sometime. If ya promise not to beat me too bad."

"I just can't promise anything like that. Mom always says that we don't make promises we can't keep."

It was clear to Daryl that Jackson was very attached to Beth and he could see why. Like she had told him before, everything she did, she did it for Jackson. Meeting the kid had actually proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt in Daryl's mind. They obviously had a good relationship and her child thought the world of her. "Fair enough."

The kid continued on, with Daryl trailing behind, slowly taking in the pictures on the walls in the hallway. There were many pictures of Jackson, some of them including Beth, in all different phases of their lives, like Jackson in a soccer uniform, and the mother and son together at what he could only assume was Jackson's birthday party. One particular framed photo stood out to Daryl. It was a picture of Beth, much younger, holding an infant in her arms that could only be a few months old. It seemed to be Christmas time judging by the background decorations and the little reindeer outfit that the baby was wearing. Easily putting the clues together, Daryl came to the conclusion that this was sixteen year old Beth with baby Jackson on his first Christmas. "That was at my grandpa Dale's and grandma Irma's house. Mommy says it was my first visit from Santa. I gotta be on my best behavior if I want him to keep coming back. I haven't made it to the naughty list yet." The kid sounded pretty proud of his accomplishment, but of course Daryl wouldn't know what that was like because Santa had never once visited him for Christmas.

Jackson stood in a doorway and Daryl peaked his head inside the room, seeing it was a small bathroom. Bath toys littered the tub and there was a colorful fish shower curtain hung up slightly uneven. "This is where we go potty and get clean." Daryl snorted at the comment, even though it was a basic way of explaining the use of the bathroom, it still sounded a little humorous.

Jackson brushed past Daryl, fully expecting him to follow, which he did. The next room up was Jackson's room. The kid happily threw his arms up in the air, clearly enjoying showing off the space to Daryl. "And _this_ is my room." The bottom part of the walls were a light blue, with a big green stripe above it, then white leading up to the ceiling. The furniture was a light colored wood with hues of brown and gray, and the bedding, neatly made, seemed to be themed, with a bunch of cartoon cars with eyes all over it. There was a little stuffed rabbit in the middle of the bed, like a king on his throne. In the corner of the room there was an opened toy box overflowing with various toys. Simply put, the room was clean and simple for a child, nothing overdone, and yet, Jackson thought it was the best room in the world. While he had what he wanted, it was easy to tell that he was not a spoiled brat like most kids Daryl had observed. "It's where I keep all my toys and sleep...well sometimes. I like sleeping with mom better cause then I don't get bad dreams."

"Yeah moms are good at keeping the monsters away, huh?" Daryl's mom was very good at it, up until she died. The monster being his dad, of course.

"Come on, I can show you her room. She's got a big bed!" Such a simple detail to a child, but to Daryl it introduced an assortment of images he quickly tried to push from his mind.

He followed Jackson out of his room and further down the hallway to the next room. The door was closed, and Daryl suddenly felt like it would be inappropriate to be seeing such a private space...but she did say that Jackson was responsible for the tour, and to him, this was part of it. The child reached for the knob and twisted, pushing the door open. Immediately Daryl was hit with her scent, very floral. The room was painted a boring beige, the furniture all a smooth rich dark wood, and a light plush carpet covered the floor. The linens on her bed were a mix of white and green. This room was simple as well, but Daryl could think of a couple other words to describe it as well, including soothing and relaxing. There were also little hints of Beth throughout that Daryl noticed. Something that looked like a trashy romance novel on the nightstand, a sweater thrown on top of the dresser, and a pair of Converse on the ground next to the door. "This is mommy's room but I'm not supposed to be in here without her so no going inside." The child was careful to stay right inside the doorway.

"Looks nice." Daryl thought the whole house looked nice. It was well-kept and tidy, but definitely still lived in. It gave him perspective on how a building wasn't just a house, but instead, a home.

The tour had apparently come to an end. "And that's it. Do you like it?"

"The house?" Daryl questioned.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah. I like it. I think mom likes it. What about you? Do you like it?"

Daryl was amused by the kid, who had earned a chuckle. "Yeah, I like it."

Apparently, Jackson had pretty good timing because they heard Beth from in the kitchen yelling at them to come to the table. Jackson shut the door to Beth's room behind him and went off down the hall, with the older man following behind. Back in the dining room, Daryl could see the meal that Beth had put together, all set out on the table. There were green beans, mashed potatoes, and breaded pork chops. Beth saw him eyeing the food and smacked a hand to her head. "Oh god, I didn't even ask if you liked pork. I know some people are weird about it..."

Daryl shook his head, smirk on his lips. "Ain't never complained about any type of meat. I ain't picky."

She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. Well in that case, have a seat and dig in." Jackson didn't need to be told twice, pulling out a chair and climbing up onto it, sitting with his knees underneath him. Daryl took the seat across from him with Beth on the end, in between them. They each loaded up a plate and by the time his was full, Daryl was trying to remain at least somewhat polite, even though inside all he could think about was how he wanted to devour the entire serving in just a few seconds. Jackson had the same idea, and seemed to succumb to his urges. It was fascinating to Daryl, how such a small person could put away so much food. Beth just looked at Daryl's face and laughed, finding his reaction to her son's eating habits amusing. "Yep, that's my boy." Beth reached over and gave him a slight pat on his shoulder. "You may wanna slow down before ya choke though." Daryl took his first bite and had to fight off the moan that threatened to escape from his throat. It was the first real food he had eaten in a while and it was just as amazing as it had smelled. Beth looked at him, waiting for his approval. "How is it?"

" _Really_ good." He left out the expletives he wanted to add, but decided to refrain because of the little ears listening.

Beth smiled at him and thanked him before taking her own bite. They all ate, content with feeling their bellies with food, for a few moments with no one speaking. Jackson must have thought it was too quiet though, because he spoke up. "Did you play soccer, Daryl? I play soccer."

Daryl cleared his throat, slightly thrown by the random question. "Nah, didn't ever play soccer. You like it?"

Jackson nodded, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "It's so much fun! You should come to one of my games sometime."

Beth coughed at this, sounding a little like she was slightly choking on her food. "Don't talk with your mouth full, baby." She wiped her mouth with her napkin. "And I think Daryl's pretty busy on weeknights, so I don't know if he'll have time to come."

The mother had been trying to give Daryl an out, in case he really didn't want to go to one of her son's soccer games. Daryl didn't take it though. "Nah, I bet I could try to make it to one of 'em. Just let me know when."

"Cool!" This obviously made Jackson very happy. Looking at Beth, Daryl could tell it made her happy as well. She smiled at him and mouthed a thank you.

The rest of the dinner was filled with more random questions from Jackson, who seemed to like having Daryl around. Of course he was like the new toy, something exciting and unknown for the time being. Beth sat back and listened, so for the most part, it was just a conversation between Daryl and a four year old. It didn't end up being that bad.

When dinner was finished, Daryl was stuffed. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so full, and the feeling was almost uncomfortable. Beth gathered all of the dishes and brought them into the kitchen, placing them in the sink. Daryl got up to join her, planning on helping her do the dishes when Beth stopped him. "No! You're a guest, just sit, relax."

Jackson gasped. "Or he could help me take a bath!" He said it as if it was the greatest idea in the world.

Beth shook her head. "No Jackson, Daryl doesn't need to do that. I just said he's a guest, so he should be able to relax, not play babysitter."

"Come on mom! It's not that hard." The kid turned to look at Daryl. "You just gotta sit there and make sure I don't drowned." The grammar mix up earned a smile from the older man.

"I don't mind, Beth. Ain't a problem."

"Are you sure?" She bit her lip, still undecided on whether or not she should force him down on the couch and kick his feet up with pillows.

"Yep. Come on, Jax." Jackson's face lit up, now having his new cool nickname to be excited about. Daryl, now familiar with the layout of the house, walked towards the bathroom. Jackson followed behind. The kid was pretty cool in his opinion, so maybe that's what gave Daryl the confidence that seemed to come out of nowhere. Or maybe it had something to do with wanting to help Beth out a little bit, give her a bit of a break. In reality, it was probably a mix of both.

Daryl turned the faucet, waiting for the hot water to come out, while Jackson stripped off his hoodie and shirt. He tested the water feeling it was pretty hot so he turned the cold water on, letting the temperature balance out. When he felt it was good, he asked for Jackson's opinion. "How's that?"

Jackson carefully leaned over, making sure he didn't stretch so far that he fell in the tub. He stuck his hand under and gave Daryl the okay sign with his hand. "Good."

Daryl smirked. "I ain't half bad at this."

"It's not _that_ hard." Damn, kid can't even let him have one win. "Bubbles, please."

Daryl located what must be the bubble bath and added it to the running water while Jackson stripped off the rest of his clothes and climbed in the tub. Daryl turned off the water when it was half full and then put down the toilet lid and took a seat. Jackson dumped out the basket of toys into the water and Daryl's eyes widened, wondering how many things one kid could possibly need to just take a bath.

Apparently the toys were just a distraction, as Daryl just sat there and waited, making sure the kid didnt 'drowned' while he played with his toys, clearly not as talkative as he was at dinner. When the pads of his fingers started to shrivel, Jackson decided he had played enough and began scrubbing down his body. When he finished, he held out the bottle of soap in Daryl's direction. "You gotta do my hair."

Daryl raised his eyebrows. "Uh, you said I just had to sit here."

Jackson frowned. "But if I do it, I get soap in my eyes and it hurts."

Daryl sighed, just letting the kid hold the soap there for a second before he grabbed it from him. He poured some into his hands and leaned over, as Jackson closed his eyes, rubbing it all over the kids head, very carefully. When it was done, he sat back, not sure what to do next.

With his eyes still closed, Jackson informed him what to do next. "The cup! You gotta rinse it out." Daryl located said cup on the corner of the tub and filled it with water. Jackson leaned his head back as Daryl poured it over him. When the suds were all gone, Jackson asked Daryl to get his towel. It was green, and had a hood with big bug eyes on it, making it look like a frog. Jackson stood up and Daryl wrapped the towel around him. "Now you gotta dry me off!" His tone made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and that Daryl was stupid for not realizing it.

"Jeez, sorry. New at this." He put his hands on Jackson's sides and moved his hands, providing friction that probably turned the kid red rather than actually drying him.

Jackson immediately started laughing. "That tickles!" He shrieked. It made Daryl crack a smile but he didn't stop, continuing on with the tickle attack. Jackson was giggling so loud that Beth came in to see what all the fuss was about.

"What's going on in here?"

"He's tickling me!" Daryl flushed red, trying to pull the smile from his face.

"Okay okay, calm down. Time for bed. Go put on your pjs."

Jackson obeyed, making his way into his room with Beth following behind. Daryl got up, not exactly sure what to do. He decided to go after the both of them. Jackson was pulling on his pjs as Beth grabbed the rabbit off of his bed. "Okay, you can go to sleep in my room with a movie on but only if you promise you'll actually try to go to sleep."

The kid looked up at her with eyes so innocent that you could practically see the halo above his head. "I will, mommy."

Beth took him into her room and tucked him in, putting Toy Story in the dvd player for him. She shut off the lights and closed the door behind her, whispering something about being a pushover, and invited Daryl into the living room. Beth plopped down on the couch and patted the spot next to her, so Daryl took a seat as well.

"You're really good with him."

Daryl's cheeks turned red once again. "Yeah? Was pretty nervous about meeting him. Ain't really been around a kid before."

"Well, you did a really great job. He likes you, I can tell." Daryl didn't say anything, not really used to handling comments like that. "I think he likes it, having a grown up man in his life that's not in his sixties. Plus, you have a _motorcycle._ " Beth emphasized the last word, joking about Jackson's excitement over the bike.

"He's a good kid. You've done a good job with him." It was honest. He had come to that conclusion within ten minutes of meeting the child.

"Thanks, Daryl." Beth smiled, obviously pleased with the compliment. Daryl was proud to have put the small smile on her face. "And I know that if you do end up showing up to one of his soccer games, he'll be thrilled. No pressure though." Beth nudged him.

"Just let me know when, I'll be there." It shocked Beth, the certainty in his voice, and it made her stomach flutter.

"There's a game on Tuesday at five. At the sports park on Elm."

"Can't wait." It might have been a tad of an overstatement, but Daryl found he was in a much better mood when around Beth, and Jackson was just a comical plus.

They continued to talk, mostly about Jackson, some about work, some about their lives and when the night was coming to an end, Beth walked Daryl to the door and thanked him once again for all the help. "Sorry you had to play nanny tonight. I'm a horrible host."

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, you fed me that home cooked meal. Much better than most."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it." She smiled at him and leaned up, placing a peck on his cheek. The spot where her lips made contact burned hot as she pulled away. "Goodnight, Daryl."

He cleared his throat. "Um yeah, night." He walked out to his bike, resisting the urge to touch his skin where he still felt her lips and saddled the bike. Beth closed the door as he backed out of the driveway and he saw the front porch light go off. The night had been a success but now Daryl didn't know what the hell to think. Thoughts of Beth made his heart race while simultaneously making him feel nauseous and he wasn't one hundred percent sure what that meant. He tried to figure it out the whole ride home. He thought she was the perfect woman. Beautiful, witty, good sense of humor, and she was a great mother. There was no way in hell she'd ever want anything to do with him, in terms of a _relationship_ , which was a word that Daryl didn't even like to acknowledge. She could do much better than that.

Beth leaned back against the door after flicking the switch for the porch light, wanting to smack herself on the head for pulling that shit. Kissing someone on the cheek was something totally normal, a friendly gesture she often used, but with Daryl it was different. He seemed to light a fire inside of her belly and she had to constantly focus on trying to keep her cool around him. It made her feel like some hormone fueled sixteen again, and history showed how well that turned out. It didn't help that he was so good with Jackson, the easiest way to her heart. She banged her head back, trying to forcibly remove the thoughts of her silly schoolgirl crush, one that nothing would ever come from. Daryl was an attractive man, with a good head on his shoulders, so she couldn't imagine that he would want anything to do with some teen mom turned porn star. He could do much better than that.

**So this chapter was a lot of Jackson and Daryl getting to know each other, not a WHOLE lot of Bethyl so I hope you guys don't mind.**

**Thanks again to all my wonderful amazing supporters. You guys keep me going!**

**Let me know what your thoughts are!**

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry, I meant to have this out a lot sooner! I've been sick and sleeping for most of the day so my writing time has been minimal.**

The week had been dragging on even slower than normal for Daryl. He wasn't used to having things to look forward to. It was now Thursday and Daryl was looking forward to attending Jackson's soccer game. It was a weird feeling, to be excited about such a thing, but it meant he got to make the kid happy, and it also meant he got to see Beth outside of work again. He knew at this point that his feelings for her were bigger than friendship, despite how much he had tried to fight it off in the beginning. So now any opportunity to see Beth was a good one, Jackson just being an added plus. He really wasn't so terrible for a kid.

Daryl had already gotten the okay to leave work a little early, wanting to ensure he would be right on time. So when 4:30 rolled around, he took off and headed for that little sports park on Elm. If he had been driving a car then he would have chewed on his thumb the whole way there, but since he was on his bike, the appendage was safe. As he pulled into the parking lot, he was suddenly starting to feel nervous. The parking lot was full of SUVs and minivans, and there were moms everywhere clutching the hands of their children dressed in uniforms and cleats as they tried to get to their games on time. Daryl parked the bike and went onto the field, trying to find any sign of Beth or Jackson. The task was harder than it sounded, as there were at least five games going on at once. As he walked the row of fields, Daryl was oblivious to all the lonely wives checking him out.

Beth had gotten to the field a half an hour early, wanting to be sure she got there before Daryl did. A couple of the other mom's had been there early as well, so she had been sitting with them, listening to them chat about trivial things, while keeping an eye out for Daryl. She was looking at her phone, seeing if she had missed a call from Daryl, when the women suddenly switched their conversation topic to a man who had just arrived. They were all whispering, each appreciating how unconventionally attractive he was. Beth looked up, her eyes landing on Daryl. He seemed to have spotted her as well as he was looking at her, heading in her direction. Beth waved at him, causing the other mothers to throw curious, and slightly jealous, glances at her. The mothers on Jackson's soccer team already didn't like her much, none of them approving of what she did for a living. Daryl waved back, but was startled when a miniature person slammed into his legs, while tiny arms wrapped around his waist. "DARYL!"

"Hey Jax." Daryl looked down at Jackson, awkwardly ruffling his hair making the kid step back laughing.

"You came! Did you bring your motorcycle?" The kid's smile never faltered.

Daryl nodded. "Mhm."

"Can I show my friends?" The kid put his hands together, holding them out, literally begging Daryl to show off.

"Ain't you got a game to play? 'Cause I came to watch some soccer." He tried to steer the child's attention back in the right direction.

"Yeah! You gotta cheer for me real loud, ok?" The kid looked so hyped up that Daryl was sure if he was locked inside a room that he would be bouncing off the walls.

"I will, now git out there and show me what ya got." Jackson nodded and ran off back onto the field.

Beth, having watched the entire adorable exchange, stood up off her folding camping chair and pulled Daryl in for a hug. His arms felt amazing wrapped around her, like she was made to fit against his frame, and she felt safe and protected. Daryl would have been embarrassed if anyone had caught him sniffing her hair while he reveled in the feeling of her being pushed so close against him. The hug lasted a little longer than it would have been if it was only between friends, but still, knowing this, they were both reluctant to pull away.

"I'm glad you could make it!" Beth sounded perky as Daryl released his hold on her. "Here, I brought you a chair." She picked up the chair from beside her own, setting it all up to Daryl so he would be on the opposite side of the desperate housewives, with Beth acting as a buffer between them, for which he was grateful.

Daryl took a seat, his back resting against the canvas fabric, and threw his right leg up so his ankle was resting on his other knee. Beth sat back down in her own chair, knees tightly together as she rested her elbows on them, using her hands to hold up her head. Daryl couldn't help but stare at Beth as they waited for the game to start. She was dressed casually, the way he preferred her, in jeans rolled up mid-calf, with a thin yellow tank top, and white sandals. Her hair was down, waving in the slight breeze, and Daryl had to fight the urge to run his fingers through it. Beth's face was completely free of make-up and he still thought she was prettier than all the other women present, with their fancy clothes, caked on faces, and snooty attitudes.

Beth looked over at him, catching him in the act and making his face flush. He looked away from her and back towards the field, seeing all the kids ready to start the game, spotting Jackson immediately. "So, he any good?"

Beth laughed. "None of them are any good. They mostly just run around in circles." She had to squint while talking to him to keep the sun out of her eyes. "Just wait, you'll see."

Daryl and Beth sat and watched as the kids did indeed start running around in big circles, half of them oblivious to where the ball was even at. It even brought a smile to Daryl's face. The entire time Beth was cheering the boy's team on and Daryl was surprised at how such a small woman could be so loud. When Jackson scored a goal, both Daryl and Beth stood up out of their chairs, hooting and hollering so loud that you would have thought he had scored the winning goal at the World Cup. Jackson had a huge smile on his face, seeing his mama looking so proud, and having someone as cool as Daryl rooting for him.

When the game was over, Jackson's team having won by two goals, Beth scooped Jackson up in her arms, pecking little kisses all over his face as he struggled to get away, clearly embarrassed that his mom would do such a thing in public. "Mommy stop!"

"I can't help it, I'm just so proud of you baby!" Beth's eye shone with adoration as she looked at her little boy.

Jackson basically ignored Beth, who rolled her eyes, and turned his attention towards Daryl. "Daryl, did you see my goal? Did I do good?"

Daryl chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah kid, you did real good."

His reply seemed to please Jackson, who continued to smile, enjoying the attention. "What do you say we go get some dinner?" Beth questioned the excited pre-schooler.

"Yeah! Can we go to Chuck E Cheese? Please mommy?" The child was a master manipulator, puffing out his bottom lip and giving his mom those puppy dog eyes.

"Oh I guess, if we must." Beth sighed dramatically, acting like it would be such a chore.

Jackson clapped his hands together, looking as if he was about to burst. "Can Daryl come too?"

"Well, I don't know, let's ask him." Beth looked away from Jackson, turning her attention towards Daryl. "Daryl, would you like to come to Chuck E Cheese with us?"

Daryl wasn't quite sure exactly what Chuck E Cheese was, but at this point he decided that he would follow Beth anywhere. "Yeah, sure." He nodded at her.

"Yay!" Jackson exclaimed. He wiggled his way out of his mom's arms and began running off in the direction of the car. "Come on, you're taking too long!" He yelled back at the pair.

All of them piled into Beth's car, Beth promising to drop him off later to pick up his bike, and headed off, Jackson's talking taking up most of the twenty minute drive. Daryl could hardly understand how one person could have so much energy all the time. Just listening to the kid made him exhausted. Pulling up to the pizzeria and arcade, Daryl inwardly cringed. He knew he should have paid more attention to the name. Up above the neon sign that read 'Chuck E Cheese's' there was also a bright cartoon mouse with a big thumbs up, trying a little too hard to be cool.

Jackson was squirming in the backseat, desperately trying to unbuckle the straps that harnessed him to his booster seat. Beth looked back at him in the rearview mirror, smiling while shaking her head. They all got out and entered the building, and Daryl was immediately hit with the sight that could only be described as pure hell. Children were running around in all directions, screaming bloody murder, holding slices of pizza and cups full of tokens. Parents seemed to be gathered in the eating area, blissfully ignoring their kids for the time being. Up on a stage, there were animatronic animals bigger than Daryl, all singing some horrible song while playing their fake instruments.

Beth pulled Daryl from his thoughts by placing a hand on his arm, giggling at his horrified expression. "You okay?"

"What have you dragged me into?" His eyes were scanning the area, as if on alert for any new threats.

"Hey, I asked if you wanted to come." Beth blinked her eyelashes, feigning innocence.

"Yeah, you failed to mention what kinda place this is." He was debating on whether or not he should bolt back out the front doors and the fifteen miles or so back to his bike. The smoker's lungs wouldn't be able to handle that, so he was effectively stranded here.

Beth paid the entry fee, getting a cup full of tokens for Jackson to go play with, and they walked over to order their food. Jackson's eyes were set on all the lit up game machines, clearly not wanting to be bothered with sustenance. "Mommy, can I go play?"

Beth didn't take her eyes off the menu board as she replied. "Not yet, you have to wait until I can keep an eye on you." Her answer made the kid pout. He could understand why Beth frequently gave into him, because even Daryl couldn't stand to look at that face all upset. "I can watch him."

Jackson's face immediately lit up at hearing this. "Please mom!"

Beth turned to Daryl, eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, ain't a big deal." Daryl shrugged.

Beth looked hesitant but she ended up nodding. "Okay." She threw a stern look towards Jackson. "You be good." Jackson nodded, grabbing Daryl's hand and heading off towards the arcade.

Jackson apparently did not know what Beth meant by 'be good'. He had been running all over the place, with Daryl struggling to keep him in sight. It was amusing that whenever the kid would win a ticket or two, he'd act like he won the lottery. Daryl assisted him in playing skee-ball winning him about one hundred tickets, making the kid declare Daryl as his official hero. The comment made Daryl's heart swell, and he quickly forced a cough to settle himself down.

When Daryl looked towards the direction of the dining area, trying to catch sight of Beth, Jackson took off. When Daryl turned back around, he saw the kid was gone. "Shit." A little girl who looked to be about eight stared at him after he had cursed. "Sorry." Daryl said shrugging it off and taking off to find Jackson. He maneuvered about the children running wild and saw Jackson's red soccer uniform out of the corner of his eye. He looked over just in time to see Jax crawling into a big play structure. Daryl ran over and stood in front of the brightly colored plastic, debating whether or not he should follow him inside. "Ain't no way in hell." He doubt he'd even fit into the tubes.

Daryl saw a little girl walking towards the structure and he reached out to grab her by the shoulders, planning on asking her to go find Jackson, but he quickly abandoned that plan when she opened her mouth and started screaming. Daryl immediately released her and yelled apologies after her as she ran away. He put his hands on his hips, deciding he would stand here until Jackson came back out.

When the child did emerge, Daryl immediately grabbed him by the waist, hiking him up onto his hip. "Okay, enough playtime for now."

"But Daryl!" The kid pouted, clearly not finished playing.

"No buts. I ain't used to this shi-stuff. Let's go find your mama."

They found Beth in the dining area with a hot pepperoni pizza and sodas for everyone. "There you are! I was just about to come looking for you." Daryl set Jackson down on a chair next to Beth then took a seat across from them.

During dinner, Beth kept shooting Daryl little looks along with smiles that made his stomach flutter. Whenever she wasn't looking his way, he would be staring at her, once again captivated by her beauty. Anyone on the outside could see that the two were obviously falling for each other, even if they would not admit it themselves.

After they had finished, they took Jackson over to trade his tickets in for prizes and he walked away with a chinese finger trap and a cheap plastic toy truck. On the way back to Daryl's motorcycle, Jackson fell asleep in the backseat.

"I feel like he's starting to like you more than me." Beth joked, prompting Daryl to look over at her.

Daryl chuckled. "Nah, I'm just the shiny new toy."

"He likes spending time with you...I do too." Beth blushed as the words came out of her mouth.

Daryl was incredibly nervous at this point, unsure of what to say. "Yeah, you guys ain't so bad either, I guess." He wanted to smack himself, he could have at least sounded a little more excited. Because he was excited, he enjoyed spending time with Beth and Jackson. The time seemed to fly by, in a good way, and he felt comfortable with them. It was a strange feeling.

"I just hope you'll be able to forgive me for dragging you to Chuck E Cheese." Beth kept her eyes on the road but put a smirk on her face as she said this.

When Beth dropped Daryl off, she wasn't in any position to give him another kiss on the cheek, or even a hug. Instead she settled for patting him on the arm, but any touch from her was appreciated in Daryl's eyes. "Thanks for coming today, Daryl. I don't think I can express in words how much I appreciate it." Daryl nodded, not used to all this praise. "I'll see you Saturday."

"See you then." He got out of the car, but just before shutting the door, he spoke up again. "I had a nice time, Beth." This put a smile on her face and Daryl was pleased with his decision to speak those simple and honest words. He then shut the door, and watched Beth drive off before climbing onto the motorcycle with a silly smile on his face, that he couldn't seem to get rid of.

**Hope you guys liked it! Reviews, please? Please please please?**

**P.S. I'm starting a new Bethyl AU fic, in which Daryl and Beth will have D/s BDSM relationship. If anyone has any real experience with this or have researched the heck out of it, let me know! I am always looking for someone to run my ideas by to make sure they are accurate.**

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

Sometimes when you did things often, they would become mindless. Your muscle memory takes over, and your body just _does._ Such tasks allow your mind to wander. This is why Beth Greene, as she was on her knees in front of a man she hardly knew, 'servicing' him on camera, thought of Daryl. If it was a crime to have him fill your mind while you sucked another guy off, then she would certainly go to prison. She couldn't really help it though...the man had worked his way into her brain, her life, and her heart. Her crush had grown with each moment she spent with him, picking up new things about him, seeing him with her son.

Beth had often tried not to think too much on her job. She knew if she spent much time pondering it, her mental health would most certainly suffer. It was hard though, not to think about how maybe Daryl would want her, if she wasn't such tainted goods. She had a feeling he could accept a former teen mom, but former teen mom turned porn star was too much for any good man to handle. For the first time in a long time, Beth Greene felt _dirty,_ not in the way one normally would as they swirled their tongue around the head of a man's cock. Trying to clear her mind to focus on the task at hand would be easier than she thought, as the man pulled at her hair, his dick pulled from her mouth with an audible slurp. He was rough as he laid back on the bed, pulling Beth with him. His hands felt all wrong as they moved from her hair, one going to her bare hip with his fingers digging into her soft skin, the other working it's way between them as he moved his member into position before swiftly pushing her down onto him. As she was fully seated on top of him, she faked a look of pure pleasure, when in reality she wasn't even remotely turned on, and her lack of lubrication making the experience much more painful than it could have been. He told her to ride him as his hands moved up to grope her breasts. Bending her body backwards, to rest her palms against his thighs, scratching his skin with her manicured nails with slight anger. Dirty words flew from her mouth, making it sound as though she was enjoying it, with her eyes shut tight. Again, sometimes when you did things often, they would become mindless. In reality, there was no pleasure, only pain as she clearly recognized the feeling of guilt and shame settle in her stomach.

When enough time had passed, the crew having got what they need, Beth faked reaching her peak, prompting any viewers to think that this man could provide you with a mind blowing orgasm, even though that was a complete and utter lie. It was quite the opposite really, the man had made Beth never want to have sex again, but then how would she earn a living? There was always stripping. She climbed off of him when he had finished, and the cameras had stopped rolling. An assistant handed her a robe, Beth taking it from her as the man she had just 'fucked' tapped her on the ass apparently wanting to compliment her on her 'acting'. "Nice work, sweetheart." Beth's fists clenched, wanting to turn around and rip his face off, but knowing she would get fired, she managed to hold it together, instead opting for the much more mature but much less fun decision to ignore him.

Dismissed for the time being, Beth went in search of Daryl, knowing that even getting to spend a few minutes with him would make her feel slightly better. With her pack of cigarettes and cell phone in hand, Beth found Max and questioned him on Daryl's whereabouts. Being told he was on duty outside, Beth left the building to go look for him. She found him in the spot where they shared their smoke breaks. "Great timing." Daryl looked up to see Beth standing there, in that fucking robe, with a gorgeous smile on her face.

"Good day?" The words didn't sound as bitter as he had felt, knowing what she had just been doing.

She walked over, taking a seat next to him on the concrete ledge he had taken up residence on. "The exact opposite actually. Absolutely horrible. But it's always nice to see a friendly face." Nudging him gently, Beth tried to get him to smile. It worked, as Daryl couldn't help the forming grin that snuck up on him. It was a subtle way of her telling him that she had missed him. He had missed her too. He watched as she pulled a white stick from her pack, prompting him to do the same. "Do you have a lighter? I forgot mine." He nodded, pulling out the red Bic. He went to hand it to her but found she already had it in her mouth. She leaned over, Daryl lifting the lighter to the tip, flicking the metal, flame erupting, igniting the tobacco and paper. Such a simple action had never felt so erotic to Daryl as she inhaled deeply before letting the smoke escape her lungs. He had been wound so tightly though that he probably would have gotten turned on by Beth doing almost anything. He lit his own cigarette before pocketing the lighter. "So, you know how my day's been. How's yours?"

He shrugged, taking a hit. "Can't really complain, ain't nothing goin' on out here."

"Look on the bright side, at least you're getting paid to hang out outside all day." She knew how much he loved the outdoors, and it was meant to be an innocent comment, but instead reminded her that she was getting paid to have sex with strangers...just like prostitution, but somehow okay because it was being filmed and distributed.

"Yeah..." He felt awkward, thinking about what she was getting money for doing. It made him sick, whenever he thought about it. Beth was going to open her mouth to say something else when the back door opened, and a girl Beth recognized as Alexis stepped outside in literally nothing but a black set of bra and panties and some high heels. Her raven hair was down with big curls, and her eyes had been done up to look smoky.

"Daryl! There you are!" Alexis giggled as she walked towards them. Her squeaky voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Beth, and that stupid laugh was even worse. They had never gotten along very well, Alexis always passive aggressively talking down to Beth. Beth had tried to ignore her for the most part, but the other woman did manage to crawl under her skin.

"Hey Alexis." He sounded less than thrilled, but Beth didn't focus on that. Instead, all she was thinking was 'how the hell did they know eachother'? So she asked.

"You two know each other?" Her voice came out a lot higher than before, when it was just her and Daryl talking. He raised an eyebrow at her, smirking, amused by the change in pitch.

Alexis answered for him, even though the question was directed to Daryl, further annoying the blonde. "Oh, we just met this morning, but we just immediately clicked!" Daryl choked a little on the smoke he had been inhaling and raised an eyebrow.

Clicked? Beth found that very hard to believe. If she hadn't been so focused on her jealousy, she might have noticed Daryl's not so subtle reactions to what the much more forward woman had said. "Well, I guess I'll just leave you guys to chat then." She angrily snuffed out the half smoked cigarette in her hand on the ledge beside her, and got up to walk away.

She yanked open the door by the time Daryl realized what she had said. "Wait, Beth!"

At the same time, Alexis said her goodbyes to the blonde, clearly pleased with herself. "See you some other time, Beth!"

Beth went back to the set and was extremely relieved to hear that she was done for the day. She quickly went and changed into her own clothes, leaving out the front, hoping not to run into Daryl. She had no reason to be so furiously possessive, but she was, so it was best she just leave before she said something stupid. She knew all she needed to cheer herself up was to go home to her baby and snuggle into bed with him and a movie.

On Sunday, Beth didn't have to go in to work. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She felt like she needed to apologize to Daryl for her behavior, but she was still embarrassed by her outburst so she also just wanted to hide in her house for a few more days.

When Wednesday rolled around, Beth and Jackson were on their way to the grocery store when her car started overheating. She looked down at the gauge behind the steering wheel, seeing the little needle rising to the top. "Shit!"

"Ohhh mommy, you said a bad word!" The little boy squealed with delight, clapping his hands together, finding Beth cussing way too humorous.

"Yes, mommy did and I'm very sorry." She turned the wheel, taking a detour from the store to go to the nearest mechanic. She had no idea how long her engine had been running hot so she turned the heater on full blast, rolling the windows down so her and Jackson didn't melt.

She drove the few miles to a shop next to a gas station, praying for the car to be okay, hoping it didn't burst into flames or something. Pulling into the driveway, she pulled up to the garage doors before shutting off the engine, grabbing her purse, and getting out. She opened the back and helped Jackson out of his seat. "Beth?"

"Hi Daryl!" Jackson yelled, as excited as always. Beth turned around and honest to God, she felt her knees go weak at the sight of him in coveralls with the sleeves tied around his waist and a dirty white wife beater covering his torso. The skin of his hands and arms was stained with grease. Beth had never been so turned on from seeing someone's epidermis covered in oil before.

"Hey Jax, how ya doin' little man?" Daryl said to the energetic child.

"Good! Mommy said a bad word!" She was sure she'd being hearing that for the next few days.

Daryl smirked, glancing at Beth. "Is that right?"

"Only because my car is a pile of junk." She sent a mock glare towards the metal frame. "It's overheating, and I have no idea for how long. I haven't really been paying attention."

"Well, you came to the right place."

"It was an accident." Beth said innocently, even though it was true.

Daryl turned his head to look down at Jackson. "Hey, you thirsty?" The child nodded eagerly. "Why don't you go on in that door right there," Daryl pointed to the office "and ask the man for some water? I wanna talk to your mom a second." Jackson looked to Beth for her permission, which she gave with a nod, allowing him to run off. Who would have thought a kid would be so happy to go get a class of water? You would have thought she withheld it. When the child was out of earshot, Daryl started in, just as Beth was expecting. "What happened the other day, Beth?"

Beth sighed. "I'm _so_ sorry, Daryl. I was just in a bad mood and I took it out on you." She was trying to play it off, but Daryl wasn't having it.

"Are you sure? Because if this is about Alexis, I just want you to know I think she's bat shit crazy." Beth laughed at his words, but then she stopped. Did he really think that she was jealous? She was, but how would he know that?

"Of course not! Why would it be about Alexis?" There was that high pitched voice again.

"I don't know...just thought maybe she pissed ya off." She did, but Beth wasn't entirely comfortable admitting that to Daryl.

"No, like I said, I was in a bad mood." She was desperately trying to keep her cool.

"Alright, if you say so." She nodded to confirm when he paused for reaction. "Let's take a look at your car then."

After waiting a while in the small office, Beth trying to keep Jackson entertained, Daryl came in to deliver the news. "Damn near melted some of the parts into nothing cause you're leaking coolant. Gonna take a day or so to get the new ones in and then it'll be a pretty quick fix. Lucky you noticed when you did." Beth was slightly relieved knowing her car wasn't toast, but still groaned at hearing the news. She was not looking forward to shelling out for a rental. "If ya want, got my old truck here. It's a real piece, but it'll get ya from point a to point b."

"Really?" What had she done to deserve this man? "I would be forever in your debt if you're being serious."

"Do I really joke all that often?" Daryl deadpanned.

"Hey, you can be pretty funny when you want to!" She thought she might have seen him blush.

"I guess. Let me get the keys." He went into the back room and came back out with a set. Beth and Jackson followed him, stopping off at Beth's car to get Jackson's booster seat. She really hated the thought of having to put him in the front seat, but she'd just take him straight home and not go anywhere else until her car was back. When the seat was all installed, by Daryl, and Jackson was all buckled in, Beth waited outside of the car to thank Daryl again.

"I really appreciate everything you do for me, Daryl. Honestly."

"Stop..." He wasn't used to hearing so many compliments, even after Beth had showered him in them.

She thought he looked so cute standing there, his hands on his narrow hips, and she had the urge to kiss him. It would be inappropriate though, she was sure of it. Honestly, if he was interested in her, he would have definitely asked her out by now. She wished she could just ask him out, but she feared rejection. Then she had a thought, that maybe, just maybe, Daryl feared the same rejection coming from her. 'What the hell, might as well." She thought when an idea popped into her head. "Daryl, I was just wondering...are you ever going to ask me out? On a date? Like a real one? Without four year olds present?"

He looked slight shocked for a second, his eyes widening. Oh God, she had ruined everything. She had put him in this awkward position, forcing him to crush her feelings for him. She would surely lose his friendship, he'd never want to speak to her again, because it would just be so weird. Her internal freak out was interrupted by Daryl questioning her. "Can ya get a babysitter by tonight?"

**I'm on a roll with the cliffhangers lately! ;) Don't hate me too much please.**

**Reviews may speed up my writing. Just sayin'.**

 


	8. Chapter 8

**The long awaited chapter...**

Beth had of course agreed to go out with Daryl, as she had pretty much forced him to ask her out in the first place. Once she finally made it to the closest Target to get her groceries, she immediately got on the phone to try and find someone who would be able to watch Jackson last minute. Luckily, Tara made herself available, after she had heard that Beth actually had a date, because that was definitely not a common occurrence.

She quickly grabbed everything on her list, and made her way towards check out, holding Jackson's hand so he didn't run off towards the toy section of the store. When she got in line, her eyes started to wander. The women's clothing section happened to be right behind her so it was only natural that she started glancing over the choices they displayed. When her eyes landed on a dress, a short simple light pink chiffon one, she immediately dragged her son out of line and over to the rack that it was hanging on. Jackson was getting impatient so she quickly peaked at the tag and saw it was only thirty five dollars, one of the reasons she loved buying clothes there, and she decided she had to get it because it would be perfect for the date.

Beth threw the feather light material into the cart, being careful not to let it touch the package of hamburger meat, and decided if she was going to treat herself, then maybe she should let Jackson pick out a little something too. He practically squealed with excitement when she told him he could get something that caught his eye, much like the dress had caught hers. Immediately, he went down the aisle that contained the Nerf guns. He didn't have any yet, as Beth had thought he was too young to be playing with toy guns...but the little man was persistent, so she figured she'd allow it, especially after seeing the look on his face as he grabbed one off the shelf. At least Beth could find comfort in the fact that it wasn't a gun. Instead, Jackson chose a crossbow. He looked so hopeful as he held it up, waiting for Beth's approval, and she just couldn't say no. This child definitely had her wrapped around his finger.

Back in line, with the toy crossbow and the pretty little dress in her cart, Jackson was much calmer than before. They checked out and Beth cringed at the total but still swiped her debit card, knowing that the purchases were totally worth it.

With the purchases in the bed of the truck, Beth and Jackson headed home. She might have been driving a few miles over the speed limit, but she wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to get ready for tonight.

When they arrived back at home, Beth knew her 'mother of the year' award would have to wait as she put on a silly cartoon TV show and plopped Jackson down in front of the TV with his new crossbow. "But I wanna go outside and play with it!" He had whined.

"Not just yet, Mommy's gotta get ready and you can't play outside unless someone is watching you." She began walking towards her bedroom and heard Jackson grumble something about getting new toys but not being able to play with them. "You can play with it inside, just don't break anything!" She yelled back at him as she entered her bedroom, crossing through it into her bathroom.

She took a long shower, allowing herself a chance to relax before taking the time to shave her legs. When she emerged from the bathroom, now all smooth and clean, with a towel wrapped around her body and another one wound up containing her hair on her head, she went to her closet to try and find some shoes that would go with her new dress. In the back of the storage space, she found a pair she thought would work quite nicely. They were silver sandals with a short wedge heel. Since she wasn't sure where they were going, she didn't want to be to dressed up, but she also wanted to make sure she looked good.

As she stood in front of her bathroom mirror with a blow dryer pointed at her head, Beth really began to feel excited. This was something special, it was a date. She couldn't even really remember the last time she'd been on one, which was sad in itself. Now though, she understood what other girls would talk about. She had butterflies in her stomach, and she felt her cheeks flush whenever she thought of Daryl, and how he apparently really did find something he liked in her.

By the time she was just about to start doing her make up, after she had gotten her hair to cooperate a little bit, she heard the doorbell ring. "Shit! Please don't be him, please don't be him." She pleaded as she went to the door. Peeking through the peep hole, Beth saw that it was Tara, and she let out a sigh of relief. When she opened the door, Tara's eyes widened. "What?"

Tara chuckled and pointed at Beth's body. "Nice outfit. Don't you think it's a little too revealing for a first date though?"

Beth looked down and realized she had answered the door still wearing nothing but a towel and rolled her eyes. "At least I knew it was you before answering the door." She stepped aside, letting the woman enter the house, closing the door behind her. Jackson appeared from behind the couch in the living room and fired off the fake crossbow at Tara.

"Got you!" He yelled when the foam dart made contact with her body. Tara, being the best babysitter in the world, at least according to this family, grabbed at her chest where the dart had hit her, and screwed her face up in mock pain, before falling to the floor and pretending to be dead. She was quite the actress.

"I'm going to finish getting ready." Beth said with a laugh. As she walked back down the hall, she heard Tara making growling noises, and as she turned her head back, she assumed that the sitter was pretending to come back to life as a zombie, and when she entered her bedroom, she heard the living dead start chasing Jackson around the living room. She decided to close the door behind her.

A half an hour later, Beth entered the living room in her new dress, that thankfully fit really well, with her make up carefully applied to her face. Tara and Jackson stopped the pretend game they were playing to look up at Beth, all dolled up for the night. "Wow Mommy! You look pretty!"

Tara nodded at Jackson's comment. "Much better than the towel." Beth smiled at her son's comment and rolled her eyes at her friend's, and then she began pacing in front of the front door.

"Jeez Beth, calm down. It's a date, not an execution."

Beth stopped, but only for a second before continuing the pacing. "I'm nervous."

"You'll be fine! You'll talk, laugh, have some wild s-e-x in the alley behind the restaurant..." Beth's eyes widened at her friend's words, and if she had been closer, she definitely would have smacked the girl on the arm.

"What's sex?" The little boy's voice was so innocent as he asked a question beyond his years.

Beth put her head in her hands and sighed. "Yeah Tara, he's going to be five soon, not two. He's learning how to spell." She told the sitter, ignoring her son's question hoping he would drop it.

Tara winced. "Sorry."

"And that's not going to happen anyways. Tonight-" She was interrupted by the doorbell going off again. Luckily, it distracted Jackson from the topic at hand. Beth took a deep breath as she walked to the door. She put a smile on her face and pulled it open. Daryl was standing there, his arms crossed over his chest, leaning his shoulder against the front of the house, and he looked good. He was wearing a rather new looking pair of dark wash jeans and he had on a blue button up shirt, and the fabric was pulling around his strong arms making Beth's mouth water just a little bit.

Daryl immediately straightened up when he saw her. He thought she looked drop dead gorgeous. The dress hit her mid-thigh, showing off her toned legs, and the way her hair fell in waves over her shoulder made Daryl want to reach out and touch it. He refrained.

Just as he was about to compliment her, a foam dart shot passed Beth and hit Daryl in the stomach. He furrowed his brow and looked down at the dart that had fallen at his feet. Beth turned around to see Jackson standing behind her with his toy crossbow pointed at the older man and she heard Tara snickering in the other room.

"I killed you! You're supposed to be dead!" Well, now Beth was regretting letting the child pick out that toy. He was already getting violent, and now he had shot her date before either of them could even get a word out.

"My bad." Daryl mumbled as he reached down to pick up the fake ammunition, tossing it to the boy.

Beth cringed, the irrational voice inside of her head telling her the date was now ruined. "I'm sorry!"

Daryl raised his eyebrow at her. "Ain't a big deal, Beth." He smiled. Smiled. Then her knees felt a little wobbly. "You look good, you ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah, let me just grab my purse." Since when was her voice so high pitched? She grabbed her purse off the dining table where she had thrown it when they got back from the store, and was now wishing she had found a clutch or something at Target so she didn't have to carry around the big black bag.

Kneeling down in front of Jackson, she pulled him in for a hug. "You be good, okay?"

The boy reluctantly hugged her back. Pulling away with a sigh, one that was really dramatic for a five year old, and spoke. "Why can't I come?"

She knew this would be coming eventually. "Because mommy and Daryl want to go out to have a nice dinner, one that doesn't take place in a child's arcade, so we can talk about grown up stuff. Trust me, you'd just be bored!" Hopefully that would steer him away from the idea of tagging along. "Plus, you have Tara here to hang out with you!"

"But I wanna go with you and Daryl!" They were rapidly approaching tantrum territory.

"How 'bout we do somethin' another night, Jax?" Daryl's words seemed to slightly calm the anxious child.

"You mean it?" Jackson seemed unsure, like he might be falling for a trick.

Daryl nodded, "Mhm. Promise."

The child let out a dramatic sigh and nodded. "Fine."

Beth chuckled and kissed her sweet little boy on the cheek. "Love you baby. You be good for Tara." He nodded again and stared after her as Daryl and Beth walked out the door. Quickly, Tara distracted him with more pretend zombie noises.

The original plan had been for Daryl and Beth to take the motorcycle out, him eager to get her on the back of it, but once he saw what she was wearing, he decided it might be better to take the truck.

Daryl went around the passenger side and opened the door for her, only to be met with Jackson's car seat sitting there. Beth chuckled, suddenly feeling more nervous than she had been about the date. They both reached to unbuckle the car seat, knocking into each other before Daryl spoke. "I got it." Beth stood back, watching him struggle with undoing the belt from behind the car seat, smiling and suppressing a laugh as he cursed the foreign contraption.

Once he had the seat pulled from the card, he set it down on the porch as Beth hopped up into the cab. Daryl got into the driver's seat and started up the truck. His hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter than usual as they pulled out of the driveway.

"So, where are we goin'?" Beth had been wondering this since Daryl had 'asked' her on the date.

"You'll see." Daryl had a small barely there smile on his face as he said this.

Beth felt butterflies seeing his face. Her curious nature hated surprises though, so on the ride to whatever their destination was, Beth's thoughts were filled with guesses as to where it could be that they were going.

Even with all the guesses she had come up with in her mind, she definitely did not expect for them to pull into the parking lot of 'The Chop House', one of the only very pricey restaurants in their little town.

"You're joking." She blurted out without thinking. Daryl just raised an eyebrow at her as he pulled the truck into a parking spot. Beth had never eaten at this place before, knowing that she couldn't even afford to eat a side salad.

"Wanted to take you someplace nice." Daryl mumbled, cheeks slightly reddened.

Beth was sure she could actually feel her heart melting. She reached across the cab and put her hand over his and squeezed. "Thank you Daryl." He nodded in response and they both got out of the car, Daryl only slightly annoyed that Beth opened the door for herself instead of waiting for him to do it.

Beth clutched her purse, trying to calm her nerves, as Daryl shoved his hands in his pockets. "I hear the food is pretty good." That was true, but still Beth couldn't help but feel like it was too much.

Once inside, they were greeted by the hostess. Her voice was overly friendly, but both of them saw the judgmental look that flashed across her face. She was probably thinking that they didn't belong in a place like this, and that they couldn't afford it. She was right. Daryl knew that to pay for this dinner, he would have to skip eating all other food for the next few days.

"Do you have a reservation?"

Beth looked to Daryl, wondering if he had even thought to make one. "Under Dixon, for two." She raised her eyebrows in surprise. He had really planned this out.

Once they were seated, Beth fidgeted, adjusting the hem of her dress, while Daryl's knee jumped up and down. It was obvious that neither of them were comfortable in this environment.

Their waiter quickly came over to take their drink order, tapping his foot as if to say they weren't worth his time. "Um, I think I'll just get a water." Beth said as she looked over the drink menu wondering how they could charge so much for a glass of soda.

"Me too." Daryl said, even though he would have preferred a beer.

Neither of them missed the waiter rolling his eyes at their choices. Both of them returned to looking at the menu. Beth had never really noticed it before, but usually when there had been silence between them, it wasn't uncomfortable like it was now.

Beth sighed, really hoping she wasn't going to offend him by what she was about to say. "You think maybe we could get out of here?"

"What?" Daryl immediately looked confused.

"No, I mean, this is nice and all, it's just...isn't it a lot of money?" She lowered her voice towards the end of sentence.

"Doesn't matter." Daryl said, indirectly answering the question.

In that moment, Beth couldn't help but think how lucky she was, and what a sweetheart Daryl Dixon could be. "I mean, I'm just sayin', that burger joint across the street looked just as good." Her eyes twinkled as she pretended to scan the menu.

A couple more minutes of silence passed before Daryl spoke up. "I could go for a burger."

Beth grinned, the smile lighting up her entire face, making Daryl's stomach flutter. She quickly scooted out of the booth and grabbed his hand, pulling him behind her. The hostess looked confused as she saw them almost running towards the exit, Beth yelling a simple "thank you" behind her.

Once outside, they left the truck in the parking lot of the steak house and ran across the street to the run down 50s style diner. Both of them immediately felt more at ease as an older women in a pink uniform dress and a white apron seated them at a bright red booth with a rip on one cushion.

"Can I get ya somethin' to drink?" She asked as they both sat down.

"Coke." It was a better choice than water.

"Can I get a strawberry milkshake?" Beth asked, her stomach growling at the thought. Even the idea of that made Daryl's mouth water.

"Sure thing, hun."

Beth smiled across the table at Daryl as their waitress walked away. "Now this is much better."

Daryl couldn't help but agree.

"I just want you to know, Daryl. I ain't some princess who needs a bunch of fancy things. I'm happy just to spend time with you." Her words were sincere, that much Daryl knew.

"Don't know why. I ain't much." His words were quiet as he looked back down at the menu.

"You should give yourself some more credit, Daryl. You're a good person." Beth could tell the compliments were making him feel just a little uncomfortable, as it was obvious he didn't like this kind of attention, not having been used to it. So instead of continuing, she changed the subject. "Now, do I get the double bacon cheeseburger? Or the barbecue whiskey burger?"

It was nice for Daryl, to see her wanting to order some real food instead of some salad or some shit. That was one thing he couldn't stand. "Why don't each order one and then we can share?" Had those words really just come out of his mouth?

"I like the way you think, Mr. Dixon." Jesus, had those words really come out of her mouth? He was positive that his cock twitched a little in his jeans.

They did decide to each order a different kind of burger and share. Soon both of them found they were having a lot of fun, more of getting to know each other, and joking around. By the end of the meal, they both found they weren't quite ready to call it a night.

"So tell me Daryl, you ever play miniature golf?"

"Pft, like I ain't ever played mini golf." He hadn't, but Daryl was always up for a challenge.

He quickly paid for their meal, leaving a generous tip for the kind old waitress, and they went back to truck and headed on over to little fun park where they would be able to rent some clubs and play mini golf.

She would tease him as he got stuck with the pink club, and he would blush as Beth figured out he had never really played before, so she showed him how to stand and lightly tap the ball instead of an all out swing. Beth smiled as they saw a couple with a little boy, close to Jackson's age, having just some good old fashioned family fun. "We should bring Jax here. I think he'd like it."

She just looked at him and nodded, completely and utterly touched.

In the end, always the fast learner, Daryl would win, but only by a couple of points. Beth made him promise a re-match as they made their way back to the car. Once again, she couldn't help but beam as he opened the door for her, not used to such good treatment.

The ride home was silent, but unlike the one at the steak house, it was a comfortable one, both feeling content.

Back at her house, Daryl parked the car, and Beth waited as he re-installed the car seat, "Just in case," he had said. Beth double checked it when he was done, and when both deemed it safe, he walked her to the door. Both making sure to be quiet, not wanting to wake up Jackson.

"Thank you for tonight, Daryl. I mean it."

"Anytime, Beth." And she knew that he meant it. She waited just a few seconds, to see if he was going to make a move. When it seemed like he wasn't going to, she turned around to open the door.

She felt his hand on her arm, gently tugging her back around. When she faced him, his lips were quickly on hers. Firmly pushing against her own. It started off sweet, but soon it was as if they couldn't consume enough of each other. He took her bottom lip between his teeth, tugging on the fragile skin. Their tongues tangled, fighting for dominance when he was finally granted access. It was only when he realized he had her pushed up against her own front door did he pull away, to be greeted with the sight of Beth Greene with tousled hair, swollen lips, and a heaving chest. "Good night, Beth."

She was slightly disappointed that she hadn't gathered the courage to drag him inside with her, but knew it was only her raging hormones trying to get her in trouble. Once inside, she peaked out the curtains to see him mount his bike, start it up, and take off.

"Spying on him now?" Tara's voice behind her made Beth jump about a foot in the air.

"Jesus, Tara! Scared me half to death."

Tara laughed, "Sorry, just couldn't help myself." Beth only rolled her eyes.

Getting out her wallet to pay Tara, Beth questioned about the night. "How did it go? Was he good? Is he sleeping?"

"Relax Beth, it all went fine. He's out like a light. In his own bed, might I add." Beth was glad to hear that, knowing she wanted him to get more comfortable sleeping by himself in his own room.

Once she paid Tara, and sent her on home, Beth stopped into Jackson's room to check on the sleeping boy. He was on his stomach, arms and legs sprawled out in all different directions, and she was sure there was a drool puddle forming on his pillow. She kissed him on the head and pulled the covers up higher on him before heading to her own room to try and get some sleep.

Thinking back to their kiss, Beth couldn't help but fall into her own dreams, with a small smile seemingly permanently etched on her face.

　

**So not a whole lot of excitement, but I promise you that is coming :) I've missed you all and I hope you've missed me (or my writing) too. Let me know what you thought! Thank you to Christy for getting my butt back into gear. Love you girl <3**

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Since their first proper date, Beth and Daryl had been pretty inseparable, spending most nights sitting down to a family style dinner with Jax or when Beth was able to get a hold of a babysitter, driving out to the middle of no where to make out like a couple of teenagers in his truck. It had only been a couple of months but it was obvious that the two were developing very strong feelings for each other and things were going pretty well for the couple - well, except when they the weekends came upon them and they went off to work, Daryl would find a silent rage bubbling up inside of him, leaving him feeling physically ill. He had been lucky, if one would call it that, the last few weeks because they had Beth filming some solo things and as much as he hated himself for it, he found himself actually getting turned on by the thought of it, however he much rather would have had a ticket to the private show, but while her occupation might have been utterly sinful, Daryl hadn't gone farther than first base with the woman. Merle hadn't known about Beth yet, and it was getting harder to hide where he was at all the time, but if he had known that Daryl was _actually_ courting a porn star, he would have let out a booming laugh in disbelief before no doubt questioning his brother's sexual identity for not having fucked her yet. So that's why Daryl found himself ready to rip the building apart when he showed up for work at the studio that morning and saw on those damn security monitors Beth on her knees, in nothing but a pair of black underwear, in front of a nothing no name pretty boy, with her hands on his thighs, his in her hair, and his dick shoved in her mouth. The image on the screen was one of horrible quality but he didn't miss the way Beth pulled back slightly when the guy pulled her down just a bit too far on his shaft, most likely making her gag. Daryl himself felt a gag in his own throat and he knew he had to leave before he ended up in handcuffs. He hurried towards the door, Max calling out to ask where the hell he was going. "Sick." Daryl had thrown back over his shoulder just before leaving.

In the parking lot, he got to his bike but he was breathing heavily and he coughed, trying to get rid of the taste of bile in the back of his throat. He wanted to erase that image from his mind but it seemed like every time he blinked, it was permanently tattooed across the back of his eyelids. The emotions flowing through him cycled rapidly between blinding rage and disgust. But it wasn't disgust for Beth he felt, no not like some would, for doing what he did, because in that sense Daryl felt respect, knowing deep down that she was just doing what she had to do. He felt disgust though, that another man would be able to put his hands on the beautiful woman he so badly wanted to claim, that he would be allowed to experience her body in ways that Daryl could only dream about. He just needed to get out of there, get far away from that building for the time being, and so he hopped on his bike and drove.

Daryl didn't even know where he was going until he realized he had driven to a run down bar a couple towns over that he had been to a few times. On a normal day, ten in the morning might have been a little early to start drinking, but right now, he felt it was as good a time as any to get shit faced. Inside the bar, he was not surprised to see it was almost empty, save a few rough looking men and a few even rougher looking women, but he shrugged it off and sat down, quickly ordering some whiskey.

It didn't take long, but three drinks later, Daryl felt the alcohol freeing the fury from his body, finally allowing his fists to unclench. "Women. Am I right?" The guy from a few bar stools over spoke from behind the beer he had been nursing since Daryl arrived.

Daryl raised an eyebrow and gave a nod but he was in no way about to have some heart to heart with some random drunk. Instead he carried on a conversation with himself inside of his head. It mostly consisted of him reminding himself over and over again that it was just a job, like anything else, and it wasn't like she felt anything for those guys. When he felt like he could actually come back to reality, and he had calmed himself down well enough with his mental pep talk and booze, Daryl paid his tab and exited the bar. He hadn't realized that he had pretty much been their all day, but he knew when he walked outside and saw that the sun had already set. Guess time really flies when you're trying to convince yourself you can be with the woman of your dreams.

Beth hadn't seen Daryl around work all day, and that made her furrow her brow in confusion as she wracked her brain to try and remember him telling her something that would explain him not being there. He hadn't gotten the day off and it wasn't like him to miss a shift, she knew he needed the money as much as she did. Back in her regular clothing, with her purse hanging off her arm, she walked into the lobby to find Max. "Let me walk you to your car." She nodded, giving him a small thanks.

"You seen Daryl around today?" She questioned, trying not to be completely transparent. No one around here knew that they were together, Beth herself wasn't even so sure that's what her and Daryl would call it, but she knew they didn't want anyone to know because it would risk both of their jobs.

Max shrugged. "Came in for all of ten minutes before he bolted, sayin' something about being sick." He didn't seem too concerned but Beth just hummed a response and bit the inside of her cheek. She had just been with Daryl last night and he seemed just fine to her.

She thanked Max again as he shut the door to her car and then she pulled away, trying not to obsess over Daryl. To be honest, she was worried. But when she arrived at home to her sweet little boy, who threw himself at her waist, burying his face his her stomach with giggles vibrating throughout her, Beth put on a smile of her own and pushed the thoughts aside. It wasn't long before Daryl had shown up, just in time for dinner, and it was then that Beth's smiled became real instead of forced. She still had her questions, but those would come later.

Later that night, after Jax had been read to sleep tucked tight into his own bed, Beth and Daryl sat on the couch, his arm stretch out across the back cushion, and Beth sat facing him with her knees tucked underneath her and her hands folded together in her lap. "Where were you today?" She was proud of herself when it came out pretty casual.

Daryl brought his thumb up to his mouth to chew on the skin and Beth had to stop herself from pulling it away. "Just needed some air for a while." She raised an eyebrow at him, not wanting to accept the answer. "It's fine now, nothin' to worry 'bout."

"Mhm." He could see by the look on her face that she was still unconvinced. "You sure you're okay? Just ain't like you."

It made him smile just a little bit, hearing her say something wasn't like him, and she could say that, because she did know him. "I just freaked out." Beth knew immediately what he was talking about, and she knew this had been coming, but it didn't end how she thought it would have, because here he was sitting on her couch. "But like I said, it's fine now."

She nodded, finally seeming convinced of his response. "Okay, good." Was all she said before she kissed him, soft and sweet. In a perfect world, or a fairy tale, this is where their story would have ended, leaving the audience to come up with their own happy ending and epilogue, but this was real life and nothing was that simple. Soon their gentle kisses turned hot and wanton as they usually did, but instead of pulling back, both of them seemed to be content testing the boundaries.

Daryl was quite annoyed and a bit uncomfortable when Beth pulled away from him, now on his lap, grinding against his ever growing erection, with her shirt and bra pushed down exposing her perky breasts that he had just been worshiping with his mouth. He was a little less annoyed when she revealed that she had pulled away to sit down between his knees, elbows on his thighs, hands brushing across the hair on his belly leading down below the waistband of his jeans. His cock twitched when she unzipped his pants and palmed him through his boxers, and for a moment he wondered if this was even happening, but even if it was a dream, he didn't want to wake up any time soon.

She leaned forward over him and he felt her hot breath on the skin just above his pubic bone, and then her tongue poked out, trailing along the tanned flesh. She laid her head down on his hip, enjoying the feeling of the rough dirty denim against the sensitive buds on her chest. He could tell this was different with him, the way she moved, the way she reacted, the way she teased, and Daryl knew that it was her way of showing that she wanted him, and not anyone else. See, Daryl knew that, but still when she finally undid the button on his pants and pulled his warm pulsing dick out, and wrapped those soft pink lips around it, his mind went dark. The images from earlier had returned and now instead of seeing the sweet pretty woman before him, showing him love with her mouth, he saw the other version, the one with her on the floor sucking someone other guy's dick for money - barely legal prostitution. "Fuck." He put his hands on her shoulders and shoved back, Beth having to catch herself with her palms on the floor behind her.

"Daryl? What's wrong?" But she knew.

"I can't do this, Beth." He didn't have to explain and she didn't try to run after him. Instead she sat, still on her knees, the carpet rubbing the taut skin raw, pulling her bra and shirt back into place, and allowed a few tears to fall. _This_ was exactly how Beth pictured this ending, and the worst part was that she couldn't even feel anger at him for leaving her their like that, because she understood.

**Obviously I can't REALLY end it here, and hopefully you all saw this drama coming from a mile away. Don't fret dear friends, they will get their happy ending. Let me know what you thought!**

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense. I had a three year old in my lap writing most of it.**

She had been so stupid, _so stupid,_ to think that she actually had a chance at a somewhat normal relationship with Daryl. Obviously, any sense of normalcy was something that just didn't belong in her life. After he had run out on her, not that she really blamed him for it, it was actually quite the contrary, she had tried her best to keep the tears at bay, telling herself she didn't get to cry anymore, and crawled into bed. The next morning, as the sun was rising, Jackson hopped on top of her, earning an "oof" from Beth's mouth as he pounced on top of her stomach.

"Time to get up mama!" He had exclaimed, all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Beth had internally groaned while trying to delicately explain to him that she wasn't feeling too well. Luckily, after a quick call to Tara, Beth got the day off but that thought didn't help the mommy guilt eating away at her gut. She felt like shit for pretty much pawning off her kid but she also didn't want him to see her so down in the dumps.

Beth didn't leave her bed that day, except to use the bathroom, and she fought off Tara every time the girl tried to get her to eat something. The angel disguised as a babysitter stayed much later than she should have, long after Jackson was asleep, crawling into bed beside Beth and sat there silently while they both watched a some stupid parody movie on Beth's tablet, and then she left after a yawn and a stretch, hugging Beth close and whispering a good night.

There would be progress the next morning, because at least she would make it out of bed and take a shower. She stayed in until the scorching water ran ice cold making her skin prick and turn red. Shivering, she dried off and got into a comfy pair of jeans and a simple tank top. After pulling on her favorite pair of cowboy boots, she went into the kitchen to make some coffee. Despite having lounged around in bed the day before, she slept like shit and actually felt like the walking dead, so she was in desperate need of caffeine.

It didn't take long for the brewed beans to perk her up and for that she was grateful because Jackson came running into the kitchen, always a bundle of energy ready to burst. "What are we doin' today mom?"

Beth feigned being deep in thought, a finger tapping against her chin. "Hmm..." Then she held her finger up in the air, eyes going wide. "I've got it!" The little boy in front of her giggled. "How about we go to the park?" Jackson nodded eagerly. "And then...ice cream?"

"Yes!" Beth laughed at his enthusiasm, happy to have her boy around to get her to smile.

"Oh well, I don't know...you don't seem all that excited about it. We don't have to, I guess." The poor boy looked as if she just told him Santa Claus wasn't real.

"No mommy! I am excited, I swear! I _really_ want ice cream!" Beth patted him on the back.

"Well in that case, you better go get dressed." He didn't say anything else as he ran back to his bedroom in his Thomas the Train pjs, feet sliding quickly across the hardwood floors.

They had walked to the park, Jackson pretty much dragging Beth behind him as she purposely walked slower, enjoying seeing the boy get all riled up. "Hurry up mom!" She chuckled and resumed her normal speed. It wasn't as if the park would disappear before they got there. When they had reached their destination, there wasn't any need to shoo Jax off to go play, as he was already running full speed towards the jungle gym as soon as it came into sight.

Beth got comfortable on a bench a few feet away from the rubber flooring of the playground and sighed. She actually had to resist the urge to pull out her phone and send a text to Daryl. It wasn't as if they had really communicated that way before all too much, due to Daryl's out of date model, and besides - what would she even say? Somehow _'I'm sorry that I'm basically just a whore'_ didn't quite have the greatest ring to it, and as a matter of fact, she was not sorry. She had done what she needed to do, what was right for herself and her son, and that was something she would never be apologetic for, even with how much it hurt to lose Daryl. She contemplated their time together, immediately lost in the thoughts, the good memories that immediately came to mind. It wasn't as if he had even been in her life for long, but that was one of Beth's problems, getting too easily attached, and she was without a doubt attached to Daryl. In the short whirlwind romance, she had felt in her heart that she had really gotten to know the gruff intimidating man. She knew underneath that hardened exterior he was a good man, one with a big heart, one who was sensitive, one who honestly cared and that's what made the whole situation so painful. If he had been an indecent person, he wouldn't have pushed her off of him that night. He would have continued on until he gotten what many men had dreamed of, and Beth would have let him. She obviously was no virgin, obviously not by a long shot, but as far as sex for pleasure was concerned, she had only been with one boy and it was completely lackluster and almost embarrassing to think about, but then it did bring her the best gift she could have ever been given. And yet somehow, she knew that things with Daryl would have been completely different, but sadly she hadn't gotten the chance and now she was sure she'd never really know.

Watching her son run around with the other kids, giggling and playing a game that looked to be some variation of tag, Beth knew that she had made the right decisions, and she would continue on with her 'career' until she could come up with something better.

The days following were easier to deal with, Daryl not crossing her mind quite as often, but when Saturday rolled around and she was due to return to work, she found herself seriously considering a spur of the moment vacation, heading out anywhere that would get her far away from there, but she trudged on, biting anxiously at her fingernails until the black polish on them was chipped away at the tips. When she pulled into the parking lot and saw his motorcycle in the parking lot, she stopped clinging to the hope that maybe he had called in sick. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Daryl, it was that she didn't want to see him like _this._ Still, she took a deep breath and tried to plaster on a smile as she made her way inside.

Luck might have still been slightly on her side that day, because she never managed to run into Daryl and she got a strong feeling that maybe the man was avoiding her. It stung, just a little bit when she thought about it, but focused on the task at hand - bringing home a cushy paycheck for her kid.

Daryl's week had slightly differed from Beth's. Not one to lounge around in bed all day, he got out. Ain't like he was some social butterfly or somethin', but he grabbed his crossbow and headed out into the woods, hoping to catch some game, his mind and body sick of spending so much money on ramen noodles and potato chips. He came up empty handed on his hunt, unable to focus on anything besides the carefree blonde that plagued his every thought. He was angry at first, that this woman, the one who had his insides all torn up, could completely take over his life. But then that anger melted away to something unfamiliar to the redneck, something that might have felt a little bit like longing. Daryl had never longed for anything in his whole life, not knowing what he would pine for, but now that he had found something he had wanted with pretty much every fiber of his being, fate had decided it wasn't right for him. The regular work week went by quickly, Daryl finding it somewhat easier to clear his mind while he was elbow deep underneath the hood of a car.

When Saturday rolled around, things got harder when he realized it was probably inevitable that he see Beth, he settled on trying to get shit faced. Alcohol had been a dear old friend to him before, so why would it stop now? But it had, because sitting in one of the trendier crowded bars in the area after having successfully avoided Beth all day at work, Daryl still couldn't manage to escape her. A song would come on over the speakers that he remembered her singing along to in his truck, or he'd see a flash of flowing blonde hair so similar to the locks he had wanted to wrap around his wrist, or someone would walk by smelling similar to her and at that point he knew he must have been out of his mind because surely in this bar with a stench of beer and the lingering smell of cigarettes, he wouldn't be able to pick out the distinct scent of fresh laundry, plain soap, and peaches. It had surprised him, how he couldn't seem to escape her no matter what he decided to do, so he decided soon he would call it a night.

After polishing off a bottle of whiskey by himself, feeling like a complete fucking loser, Daryl headed back to his place. He groaned when he heard voices inside, glancing at the lock that had obviously been picked. It could only mean one thing - Merle. Daryl had been staying away from his brother for the most part, not out of avoidance, but just lack of time and apparently big bro didn't like that one bit. Daryl pushed open the door to the shit hole he called home and was surprised to find that Merle was there, but not with other people like Daryl had assumed. The voices he had been hearing were coming from the old television that was usually more of a piss poor excuse for a decoration, and the voices weren't talking, there were grunts, moans, and squeaks instead. "Hey baby brother!" Merle smiled at him a lie, there was no real happiness behind that smirk. "Hope you don't mind, made myself right at home!" Indeed he had, because his legs were propped up on the coffee table that looked about ready to collapse, and he was leaning back against the thread bare couch with his arms spread across the sunken cushions.

Daryl grunted a hello to him, turning his attention back to the offensive images flashing across the screen. A flash of blonde, those pink lips in the shape of an O, head thrown back, and eyes screwed shut. Daryl's blood ran cold and his voice came out thick. "Fuck! Turn that shit off!" Quickly he got to the television, stumbling over his feet a little as he reached to pull the plug out of the socket.

"I's watchin' that!" Merle hollered at him, back now straight and hands up in the air. Daryl didn't reply, instead tried to focus on regulating his breathing, willing himself to calm down. Merle seemed to sense Daryl's discomfort and took advantage. "I mean, Jesus, you ain't a fag or somethin', right?" Daryl glared, his breath coming out in shallow pants. "Cause damn, that girl is one fine piece, lemme tell you." Except, Merle didn't get the chance to tell, surely what would have been the things he would've like to do to her because in a few short strides, Daryl was above him, swinging his fist right into his brother's jaw.

**Thoughts? :)**

 


End file.
